Initial Thoughts
by Akavet
Summary: Kid x Soul. Soul's intrigued by the shinigami but his initial thoughts come crashing down as he gets to learn more about the other. "... Take off your clothes." Kid had said and Soul could easily admit that he had no clue what was going on... FLUFF. Slash
1. Prologue

This is only the Prologue. Basically the stuff from _Episode 3: The Perfect Boy… _

Pairing: Death the Kid x Soul Eater Evans (Seriously, this is way too cute of a pairing to ignore writing for…)

**Skip over to Chapter 3 if you want to skip over to the actual original story! :D**

**This is all just filler for their first thoughts and their first meeting! You can still read if you want~ **

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Chapter One - Prologue

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Soul and Maka stand in front of the board that showed the currently available missions. "I wonder who took it…" Maka murmurs as Soul stares on. There was a giant uproar at Shibusen when someone took the level three Pharaoh mission. Many other students clamored over to the mission board as they started to fantasize who it was among them that enlisted for it.

Black*Star yawns lazily as Tsubaki walks beside him. There was a huge gathering in front of the mission board as students' excited voices filled the air. Tsubaki starts to ponder. "I wonder what's up…"

Ignoring the ruckus, Black*Star calls over to the two. "Hey! Soul, Maka!" Despite feeling tired, his voice remains energetic and loud as always.

Maka takes notice of them and greets Tsubaki and Black*Star back cheerfully. "Ah, morning."

Tsubaki nods her head in acknowledgement politely. "Good morning." As Soul and Black*Star high-five, she continues to converse with Maka. "Has something happened?"

Soul raises an eyebrow as he lowers his hand from Black*Star's. "Oh, you don't know?" His voice sounds cool and laid-back as always, but now it's rimming with curiosity. His eyebrows are furrowed uncomfortably as his palms shuffle into his side pockets. He leans forward as he continues to talk. "Everyone at the academy is talking about it."

Black*Star laughs arrogantly as he places his hands at his sides. "They're just now being taken aback by my big-ness?" He starts to chortle triumphantly.

Soul twitches an eyebrow whilst Maka and Tsubaki look uneasily at him. Soul grumbles in an annoyed tone. "No. It's that, over there." He cocks his head over to the board.

Black*Star glances over. "Huh?" His confident expression soon melts away into a sour and bitter face.

Soul addresses him once more. "Hey, Black*Star… You're wondering who took it on too, right?" He stares on uninterestedly as Black*Star closes in on the board.

His voice escalates to that at a live concert. He starts to shout vigorously. "You bet I am! Not so much on the job and such, but I don't like that someone has the nerve to outshine me!" He starts to pump his violently at the board.

_Well, figures that was your reason… _Never the less, Soul takes on a smug grin. "Well, that settles it."

"Yeah!" Black*Star yells as the two simultaneously sprint down the halls.

Maka raises her arm after them. "Ah, hold on, you two!" Tsubaki merely sweats nervously at her side as they make their hasty exit. Their wound up yell doesn't go unnoticed by the rest of the students and everyone shifts their head over to the side. Maka twitches on spot. _Those idiots…_

* * *

Once inside class, Maka and Tsubaki simultaneously sigh. "Geez, where did those two go?" Soul and Black*Star cut class regularly but regardless, it still bothered the two.

Meanwhile, Soul and Black*Star are dashing about the campus, looking up possible suspects. However, their reasons for doing it differ. Soul was fascinated. Black*Star was pissed. To the assassin, only he was the one worth being gossiped about in the halls. They sweat profusely as they match each other's speed whilst following for any leads. Eventually, they got their answer.

"What are you guys up to? The bell has already rung." Sid Barett stands across from them and scolds the two as they sweat and painfully heave over the staircase. Soul, not able to match Black*Star's level of enthusiasm and strength, merely clutches unto to the other's shoulder for support as he faces the teacher.

Black*Star, his energy quickly regained, immediately jumps up to counter while Soul loses his grip and tries to catch his breath. "What about you? You're a homeroom teacher, and you're getting ready to go somewhere, aren't you?"

_Man, I wish I shared your endurance… Damn… _Soul continues to wordlessly huff as he clutches his own knees for support.

Sid smirks as he replies: "I have a little errand to run." He faces his back toward the two. "Appearances to the contrary, I am a _busy _man."

Finally catching a lungful, Soul proclaims: "Well then, before you go, there's something we need you to tell us…"

Black*Star impatiently finishes the sentence for him. "Who was it that took on the Anubis ruins job?"

Sid with his back still faced, answers cautiously. "Oh, it wasn't one of our students who took that one… It's a little too much for one of the students to handle…"

He lets the mystery linger for a while before Black*Star snaps. "Then, who was it?"

He flashes his teeth, smiling vigorously. "Lord Death's son."

Black*Star repeats curiously. "Sir Death's…"

Soul's interest was piqued and he smiles crookedly. _A shinigami kid, huh? Lord Death's… "... _Son?" He finishes up Black*Star's question. "… Seriously?"

The teacher faces them once more, a dangerous gleam to his eye. "I'm not the kind of man who tells lies… Lord Death's son. His name is Death the Kid."

"Eh, that's a stupid name…" Black*Star disappointedly groans as he looks up into the ceiling and folds his arms. Soul merely scratches his chin as he continues to muse over the person.

_Death the Kid, huh?_ Soul smiles once more before walking back toward class with a silently fuming Black*Star.

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Read and review please! Thank you :)


	2. First Encounter

Episode SPOILERS! (But only if you're really new to the show…) Spoilers – Episode Four to Six… Or something like that…

SPOILER!

SPOILER!

SPOILER!

SPOILER! (Just taking up space so you don't see the spoilers)

…

… Okay, that's enough…

To **ZombieLiz**: Ah, thank you very much for the review! Yeah, I'm sorry about doing a novelization of the anime (things we've all seen in action) but I have a reason for doing that... (See below) Ah, hopefully you'll be able to tell better when I actually get to writing the fluff in the next chapter... In this one, I seriously died though... Anyways, once again, thanks for reading! Kid and Soul _are _a cute couple!

Anyways, I am _ALMOST_ regretting starting this fan fiction this way… I _just_ wanted to cover back story on Soul's first thought and reaction when he learned of Kid as well as their first encounter… But it is such a DRAG! Re-watching episodes over and over and over as I fill in the lines! UGHHH.

Luckily, my pain will come to an end in this chapter! And I will finally be able to get to ACTUAL writing instead of novelizing the anime! THANK GOODNESS.

Well, anyways the plot in Chapter One and Chapter Two (The one you're looking at right now) don't belong to me (well, neither do the characters or the series, but you get what I mean hopefully). It's merely a rewriting of their first encounter with some thoughts sneaked in. I wrote this myself, in my _imagination_, so technically, I didn't cheat… Much… Okay, I cheated. But I wrote in cool details and adjectives, right? *Gets shot*

Hope you enjoy! XD

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Chapter Two

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After a long and disastrous lesson with Professor Stein, Black*Star was presumed dead and Sid Barett was turned into a zombie. Much to their dismay, the day afterward, Stein, said lunatic was enlisted as one of their new teachers.

However, one positive thing came out amidst the chaos. The fight had managed to attract the attention of Death the Kid. He is shocked at the revelation and personally believes that they will all die at the hands of Stein. _They won't be able to fend off his attacks any longer… He's besting them so easily even without a weapon... _As he watched with interest at the battle that unfolded in front of him, he refused to continue as a spectator and tried to give the struggling four a helping hand. Shinigami, his father, merely stopped him dead on his tracks, saying that this was only a trial for students of Shibusen. Kid then decides that, henceforth, that he would be a Shibusen student. _I always liked working personally toward my goals… This will be interesting._

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Back at the academy, rumors of Shinigami's son's enrollment immediately surfaced. Black*Star, being the egotistical idiot that he was, turned envious at the constant uproar about the newly enrolled shinigami. He didn't want anyone to be talked about any more than himself, so he cut class to wait outside and pick a personal fight with him, alongside his new weapon of choice, Soul.

"Today! There is! Someone I _must_ assassinate!" He pauses exaggeratedly between his words. Black*Star clenches his fist, forcing it up, as he states a speech publicly to thin air. "Right _now_! There is a rumor that is the talk of the academy! Sir Death's son is supposed to be enrolling! I can't let any rumors that aren't about me flourish!" Black*Star starts to hype up as he folds his arms.

_Who the hell are you talking to? _An exhausted and reluctant looking Soul sitting down against a pillar from behind his loud friend can be seen looking as bored and sleepy as always. One knee is perched up while the other leg stays dead on the ground. He utilizes his arms as cushions as he closes his eyes and leans back once more. "Yeah, that's the sort of guy you are…" He pitches unenthusiastically as he starts to doze off on spot. _Just how long have we been waiting for that kid? _

"For that matter, when is his dirty, lazy-ass son going to get here?" Black*Star screams as Soul tries to shield his ears from the unsteadily rising boom box. "We've been waiting here for _three_ hours already!"

Soul picks at his ears. _So that's how long I sat here… No wonder I can't feel my ass._ Unlike Black*Star, Soul was genuinely interested on meeting with Shinigami's son and reluctant on starting a fight. However, the inevitable would come… Black*Star managed to piss off just about anything. He started to quietly consider what his appearance would be like. _Huh… Maybe he's like a miniature version of his dad… _He snickers to himself at the idea.

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Death the Kid and the Thompson sisters are taking their time, slowly pacing up the seemingly endless stairs. Liz starts to muse over her and her sister's past lifestyle. "After being raised on the streets for so long, we sisters finally get to go to school… Isn't that great, Patti?"

Patti giggles victoriously as she faces downstairs and shouts: "I'm so happy, you bastards!"

Ignoring his weapons' bickering, Death the Kid continues to admire his surroundings. "Wow, magnificent. I should have known, this being Father's school…" He amorously mutters to himself. "Such wonderful symmetry…" As their footsteps sound, Black*Star immediately climbs to the top for his dramatic entrance.

"Oy, oy, what are you doing?" Soul calls out as the other hastily climbs. Black*Star merely salutes him as he makes his way up to one of the spikes that protruded from the academy's walls. "… Idiot…" Soul faces forward as he sees the outline of a head peeking out from the staircase. _Is that… _"By any chance, are you guys the son and his entourage we heard about?" Death the Kid stands in front of Soul, in full view for the scythe to observe. _Eh, he's a kid… So much for that Shinigami Junior theory… _He stares, captivated by the dark callousness atmosphere that enclosed the kid. _He looks kind of cool. Pretty much what I expected, a cynical and eerie looking pretty boy… _Not immediately answering, the boy looked up to admire the building, fawning over it as he entered school grounds. _Huh, some architecture fetish perhaps?_

Kid looks over to him curiously, stopping in his tracks; his yellow eyes meet with Soul's crimson ones. "Oh? Are you here to show us around the school?"

_His voice sounds pretty deep and self-serving. Ha, a typical rich kid… Expects some kind of lackey to service him around, huh? _Soul cackles lowly. "You're tardy after just barely enrolling… And you want _me _to show you around?" He grins threateningly, baring his sharp teeth at the shinigami.

Kid continues to stare, fully composed. _I recognize him…_

Soul had expected a cool, calm and collected kid, and so far, his guesses seemed to be correct. "Capitalizing on the _seven_ good graces of your father is something else, alright…" He teased, waiting for his reaction.

His eyebrows furrow as his nose slightly scrunches up. "What? _Seven_ good graces?" He repeats calmly. However, Soul's expectations come crashing down as Kid goes ballistic from his OCPD. "None of that 'seven' business! Eight! Eight! Make it 'eight'!" He jabs his fingers at Soul childishly as the other stares blankly.

"Uh…" Soul's eyes widen in surprise as the poised kid uncharacteristically breaks down. His mouth twists out of shape as he stares back baffled at the other's actions. "Huh?" Kid approaches him and points a finger that almost touches the bridge of his nose. _What? I… I was pretty close to the real deal about his physical looks but his personality? … What the fuck?_

The other has a nervous breakdown as he starts to explain. "If you divide 'seven' in half, there's no left-right symmetry! But what about 'eight'? Cut it vertically or horizontally, and there's perfect symmetry!" He flaps his hands frantically as Soul continues to stare, the taken aback face apparently frozen on him. Kid proceeds to get on his knees and shamelessly bows before the petrified Soul. "No more 'seven.' Make it 'eight.' Please…" He starts to whimper and beg pathetically with his hands outstretched toward him.

_I can't just make it 'eight.' _Soul blinks at the sight before him. _Wait! Whoa, whoa… Is… Is he crying? What an un-cool first impression. _"Hey… Are you… Alright?" Soul sounded extremely worried about said shinigami's mental condition. Kid continued to sob before him.

Patti continues to laugh at him as Liz berates the boy. "No, he's fairly _hopeless_." The shinigami stays quietly in his bowing position. Soul cocks an eyebrow at him as he outstretches an arm from his pocket to pat the shinigami on the back awkwardly.

"Uh…" _This is not what I expected from Shinigami's son… Far from it… _Soul's thoughts are interrupted when he hears Black*Star's yell from above.

"Yahoo! I won't let _anyone _try to outshine me! No matter _who _they are!"

Liz stares up. "What's that, a monkey?"

Black*Star continues enthusiastically, screaming at the top of his lungs from such a high distance. "Hey, Death's son, I'm going to _assassinate_ you!"

Liz continues, assuring herself. "Oh, it _is _a monkey…"

Soul removes the comforting hand from Kid's back as he shakes his head distastefully on what Black*Star considered a cool introduction. Regardless of no response, Black*Star continues with an iron will. "Then tomorrow's rumors will go like this… 'Sure enough, Black*Star finally rose above a _god_!'"

Liz drowns out the annoying bicker from the over-confident assassin. "Hey, Kid, it sounds like he's addressing you…"

Kid peers up from his lying position. Black*Star is still going on and on. "Holy am I _alone_ throughout Heaven and Earth! Tomorrow, I'll have a halo shining over me!"

Soul grumbles. _You're too high up. Nobody can even see you… Uh, ah! _The spike collapses under Black*Star's weight and he comes falling down along with the crumbled pillar. He broke off one of the spikes that protruded out of the main skull structure, successfully catching Kid's attention, although not in the way he would have wanted.

Kid lunges up from his spot as he has another breakdown. "Ah! AH! AHHH!" His fingers curl out in front of him as his mouth goes agape in horror. He was devastated.

With a cocky smile and laugh, Black*Star lands safely on his feet with a large 'thump.' "It looks like you couldn't withstand my big presence!"

Soul dismisses it silently. _I don't think that's it…_

"It's no wonder the times are changing!" Black*Star gets to his feet proudly as he balls his hands into two tight fists.

Soul eyes over inquisitively to the shinigami. He was softly growling. He slowly hisses out a threat as his bangs cover his eyes. "How _dare _you destroy such symmetry…"

Liz and Patti stare over as the elder gripes. "Uh oh, now he's done it…" Patti simply stares with a mystified "Whoa…"

Black*Star bounces actively on spot. "Come and get it! Take a long hard look at my assassination skills!" He starts to get pumped up.

Soul sighs jadedly. "Assassination is supposed to be something _no one_ can see, right?" He corrects. _Not the subtlest place to 'assassinate' here, out in the open, RIGHT in front of the school… _

The shinigami spits out furiously. "_You _disgust me!" Soul's head immediately flinches up at the insult toward his friend. "Fight against a shinigami and I can't vouch for your soul. Liz, Patti, transform!"

Patti, the shorter of the two shoots up an arm before yelling: "Right!" and Liz merely grumbles: "We haven't gotten into a fight since we lived on the streets…" The two girls at his side obediently transform into two silver semi-automatic handguns that he catches in his hands. He cocks them immediately and points them toward Black*Star menacingly.

"Pick a fight with me, and I'll accept it! Let's go, Soul!" Black*Star shouts.

"Dude, _you're_ the one who picked it, right?" Soul narrows his eyes as he stares at the two guns. _He's… He's going to shoot us with his pinky?_ _Well, either way, there's some more of that heated fury I expected from you… _Soul gets up to his feet as he himself challenges the shinigami. "Still… Once we've started, we're going to win. No matter _what._" He nonchalantly walks behind Kid and catches the glare of the fuming shinigami.

"Oh yeah! The _ultimate _duo is formed!" Black*Star screams.

Soul analyzes him from the back. _The power that brought down Anubis… _He smirks crookedly. _Cool._

Black*Star frowns as he glares back at the threatening stance. _The nerve to try and outshine me…_

Kid himself considers his enemy's power. _These are the guys that went up against Dr. Stein, such that it was… I can't let my guard down. _"Here we go." He whispers before cocking one of his guns toward Soul.

The three break out into a bullet riddled fight, Black*Star and Soul evasively dodging each one that came their way. The fight soon attracts the attention of students inside of the school; leading to Maka, Tsubaki and Professor Stein having to go outside to deal with it and put an end to the chaos. Instead, they end up viewing the fight as an unknown audience.

_Damn it! He reloads fast! _Soul grumbled as he scuffled lamely around the courtyard, narrowly avoiding each hit. "Whoa! Hey!" He clumsily runs around as he stretches his arms out to enhance his speed and balance. _Crap! I'm not the fastest kid in gym _class_!_

Black*Star, on the other hand, did handstands as well as jumps as he complained to the distanced shooter. "Damn! I can't do _anything_ if I can't get near him!"

Kid smirks. "Oh, you want some close-quarters combat? Fine!" He leaps up and flips once in the air to aim a well-rounded kick straight down at Black*Star. The assassin shields it just in time, only to have footing slip and come skidding back down on stone.

"Look down on me, will you!" He growls as Kid glowers at him hatefully with piercing golden eyes. Meanwhile, Soul races up toward him with a battle cry. Transforming his left arm into a scythe, he attempts to bludgeon the shinigami's head with the blade. Kid expertly blocks it with the gun without even facing him. The blade clangs violently with the gun.

"W-what?" Soul stutters. _H-he stopped my attack? _During Soul's minor hesitation, Kid twirls on his soles and aims the hilt of his gun deep into his stomach.

"Oh, no!" Black*Star yells as he rushes back to his feet, recovering from the blow.

Soul makes a strangling sound as he is forced off the ground, the gun still buried deep into the wall of flesh at his torso. Kid pulls the trigger and a disgusting splattering sound is heard from Soul's stomach. He makes a pained groan as he thuds to the ground. Kid calmly stands to his feet as Soul continues to struggle, clutching his stomach at the pain that overcame him. "_Ow_! That hurt like hell!" He starts to roll on his back, rocking side to side, as he groaned in agony. Patti's laughter echoed from the gun as Liz spoke up proudly.

"We're not like _ordinary_ guns that just shoot bullets. We're able to compress and shoot our master's soul wavelength." Her voice eerily echoed throughout the chambers of the gun.

Soul and Kid meets eyes. The neurotic yellow clashes with the pained scarlet of his eyes. _Talk about looks can kill… _"Damn!" He curses as he continues to clutch at his twisting stomach. Kid doesn't blink and continues to look intently at Soul. _Maybe I was too quick to criticize you… _Death the Kid easily dispatched Soul and his friend with the help of Patti and Liz, his twin pistols. He utilized the guns with expert dexterity and handled the two with ease. The two being pissed off at the boy who so easily handed their asses back on a platter, would attempt to work as a pair.

Black*Star silently fumes. _He's holding back on us! _He performs a jumping kick over Kid, landing a blow that pushes the other back. When Soul dashes toward him once more with his scythe, Kid immediately shoots in defense, Soul wasting his attack by reflecting the hit. After more hit and run, hit and run tactics, Black*Star and Soul finally gather on the same side. "Let's do it, partner!" He calls out, and Soul sneers.

"'It' it is!" Soul proclaims. Kid looks on questioningly.

"Huh?"

"Listen and gape! Watch and scream!" Black*Star taunts.

"I think you mean 'watch and smile.'" He corrects instantaneously, but regardless, he halts his relentless attacks, watching quietly.

"We're going to show you the power of our friendship!" Black*Star hypes.

Soul adds in: "Yeah! Our immeasurable, infinite power!"

Kid immediately shifts to a defensive stance. "_What_?"

Soul and Black*Star nod together. "Here we go."

"Yeah."

Soul immediate utters a battle cry as he leaps into the air, fully transforming into a scythe. Kid's mouth cutely goes wide as he exclaims enthusiastically. Patti shrieks: "Cool!" as Liz shuts it down by saying: "Take this a little more _seriously_…"

"Come to me, Soul!" Black*Star yells as he outstretches his arms above him.

"Friendship…" Soul starts to plummet down toward Black*Star.

"Fusion!" When the scythe lands, Black*Star clasps his hands together only to catch nothing but thin air in his grip; Kid looks on wordlessly. The scythe sinks into Black*Star's hair (Head, maybe?) and makes a grotesque squelching sound. The scythe slides off dramatically, clanging unto the stone underneath as Black*Star shrieks. "NOOOOO!" Blood starts to squirt out of his wounds.

"What good does it do to catch me with your _head_?" Soul tells off. "Get it together!"

"What's this? You're ridiculously heavy!" Black*Star struggles as he pitifully tries to lift him up off the floor.

Soul doesn't even budge. "I couldn't be. Maka swings me around with ease." He grumbles.

"WHY, YOU ROTTEN, STUPID, SCYTHE BASTARD!" _Say I'm weaker than a girl, will you! _He starts to tug furiously from the handle.

"_Nice wording, dumbass – Ah, AHHHHHHH!" _Suddenly, Soul starts to scream in agony as he scolds Black*Star in human form. "What's the big idea, driving your soul wavelength into me?" Kid only stares on quietly.

"S-sorry." He meekly apologizes.

Soul dismisses the apology as he turns the other way. "We're… _Through_."

"Oh… W-what do you mean, Soul?" Black*Star asks.

"If we remain close like this, I'm going to grow to dislike you…"

A few minutes before, Maka, Tsubaki, and Professor Stein had gathered nearby, observing the fight as Kid easily handled himself against the two. They _currently_ looked on from afar in confusion. Kid, on the other hand, had enough. "Oy, can I shoot?" He cocks his guns up, but Liz immediately goes against it.

"Hey, let's give them a minute! This is getting _interesting_…" She coos.

Black*Star lowers his head. "I see… But we can… Still be friends after we break up, right?" He lightly blushes.

"You _dumbass_! Of _course _we can!" Soul answers as he runs up to him in slow motion. Soul starts prancing back toward him as a strange, pinkish air forms around them.

Kid twitches.

"Soul!"

"Black*Star!"

"SOOUULLLL!"

"BLLACCCKKKK*STTTARRR!"

"SOOOUUULLLLLLL!" The two embrace as everyone stares off in uncertainty.

Kid abruptly pulls the trigger and they topple back. "… Oops… Sorry." Awkward pause. "… My fingers slipped." He monotonously replies.

"Still, we're already taken on the fight." Soul grumbled as he got to his feet.

Black*Star immediately jumps up. "Yeah! We won't back down until we've won!"

_The hell could you already be standing? _Soul silently bares his teeth. And… _That's not even close to what I meant, idiot… _

"Come at me, then. I'll finish you with the next one…"

Black*Star dashes forward as Soul sluggishly shifts his arm into a scythe. "I'll hit you with some soul wavelength too!" Black*Star growls as he charges sparks into his right palm, his attack misses, with Kid immediately countering it by kicking sharply at his legs to make him lose his footing. Kid pulls him up, ready to finish him off only to feel Soul's scythe approaching. He counters it as he mocks them back.

"Your speed and agility are both poor!"

It was partly true; Black*Star made up for it with pure brawn as Soul counterbalanced his poor speed and agility with an overall equilibrium of the fighting fortes. Black*Star immediately shouts back: "You _bastard_!" as he charged yet another attack. Kid simultaneously shoots them back, but not before Black*Star sneakily lassos around the shinigami's shin.

"What?" Kid grumbles as he starts to tumble down.

"That attack was a feint!" Black*Star smiled as he pulled him down.

Stretching his legs apart crudely, Kid falls down on his butt at the loss of balance.

"Ha, you're _mine_!" Soul catches his chance as he fully transforms into a scythe, lunging up into the air as he plunges toward Kid, still in his defenseless sitting position. He scarcely escapes the blade, the very bottom of his bangs being clipped off in compensation. _Ah, shit! _Soul curses his luck as he sinks into the rock, dangerously close to Kid's groin area. _Uh, well, this is awkward… _Currently, the only thing that was in Soul's range of perspective was below the waist of the shinigami. _… Of all the ways I could have landed…_

Kid experiences an awkward pause as he peers down at the scythe's arrangement. "…" He closes his eyes as he tugs at his legs to pull Black*Star toward the blunt of the Scythe. He immediately jumps up to his feet as Black*Star gracelessly crashes headfirst into Soul. Soul merely stares tongue-tied at the boy that twitched in pain beside him.

"I… I seriously want to _kill _that brat…" He moans.

Kid speaks up once more. "Allow me to show you the true power of a _shinigami_… _Soul sympathy_!"

Soul groans ill at ease. _Then what the fuck were you showing us before? _

The shinigami stands symmetrically even as dust clouds encircle him, glowing a bright blue; his soul was emitting a powerful aura around the battlefield.

Soul merely taunts him unknowingly, unable to see the soul. "C'mon! Bring it on, _anytime_!" He starts to beckon him mockingly as Black*Star growls threateningly beside him. Soul begans to slobber, gliding a wide tongue over his sharp teeth, as he continues to leer at the focused shinigami.

"I'm the one who's a god here!" Black*Star is equally blind to the dark power that swirls in front of him. Kid eventually has obsidian ghouls that encircle the blue soul as he continues to look on ominously at the two. Black spikes protrude out of his skin as his arms turn into two heavy, platinum turrets. He chucks them up weightlessly as he lunges down to his knees.

"Execution mode acquired." He murmurs portentously. Strange black and red sparks continue to encircle, giving an even darker air to the already gloomy kid.

Soul withdraws his taunts as he starts to hesitate on whether to evade or not. "Hey, does this seem bad to you somehow?" He sweats nervously when Black*Star seems completely obvious to Kid's supremacy.

"I sentence you to be my ball-washing rag!" He laughs deviously as he continues to flex his muscles toward him.

Crimson rings start to charge at Kid's arms as well as pink glowing orbs and transparent black claws. Kid chucks them up without difficulty as he exclaims: "Death Cannon!" Yellow beams burst out from all directions as Soul's eyes go wide at the blinding sight.

Soul immediately panics. "H-hey, this is bad! This is _really _bad!"

Black*Star, once again, remains ignorant. Perching his elbows at his knees, he self-assuredly yells: "Ha! Ridiculous! You think something like _that _will have _any _effect on me?"

Soul starts to pace back. _Ah, you idioooott – _Soul and Black*Star immediately crash down on impact, the attack making a huge explosion that catches the attention of every single person around the area. The two are immediately knocked out on contact, sprawled out into a ditch apparently carved from the hit. Black smoke fumes out from their clothes as they lie unconsciously. Kid's arms change back to normal as he faces the other way. Tsubaki dashes up toward Black*Star in concern as Maka uncaringly shakes her head at the idiocy of it all.

Kid stands deathly still as he considers the weight of his victory. He smirks as he peers up into the sky. _Beat them… Eh… EH? _Kid himself immediately knocks out. Blood starts to squirt out from his mouth despite no attack being landed on him. Liz and Patti change back into human form, staring oddly at their cataleptic meister. Tsubaki lends a helping hand to Black*Star as Soul climbs out by himself.

"H-huh?" Soul stares oddly at the shinigami that lied lifelessly on the floor. _We didn't even land a hit on him… _Soul stares on carefully as he listens in on the sisters.

"Ugh, what a loser… He passed out because he got clipped." Liz grumbles. Patti merely giggles maniacally beside her elder sibling.

_C-clipped? _Soul thinks up horrifying images that the word hinted against but shakes them out as he tries to remember. _D-did I graze him when I landed that single blow? _Soul starts to ponder back to the attack, although he lightly blushes when he recovers the memory of landing so lethally close to the other's groin. He snaps when he gets his answer. _H-his bangs… _"That means we've made a come-from-behind victory, huh?" He suggests to the wounded Black*Star.

Upon hearing Soul, Black*Star sneers exultantly. Despite losing (again), they managed to slice off a bit of his bangs, having Kid knock out for the rest of the day at the loss of symmetry. Black*Star was happy for apparently _avenging _himself at the painful loss. "Oh, yeah! I _finally_ have rose above a god! Hey, halo! You can shine down on me now!" Tsubaki merely stares calmly at her friend, still admiring him even after he had momentarily abandoned her.

Soul grumbles. _It… It wasn't just you, you know… _However, being the laid-back guy he was, doesn't put much thought into it as he leaves Black*Star who continued to boast to an unwilling but patient Tsubaki. He grumbles as he gets up to his feet and joins Professor Stein, Maka, the Thompson sisters, and an unconscious Kid that continued to spit out blood. He stares down at the scarlet stained, porcelain face of the twitching Kid. He smirks at the sight. "You're _not_ what I expected…" Maka stares curiously at him as he shakes his head and dismisses his comment. "Nothing…" _He's a… A weird one, alright…_

* * *

Finally! Unto the actual story next chapter! Man, I'm beat… Read and review!


	3. First Real Conversation

HELL YES! I finally get to do original writing here! Yes… It's original… -_-;

Now the annoying anime novelization chapters are done~

The story is mine… They _still _don't belong to me though (Soul Eater anime & characters, I mean) … *scowl*

* * *

Chapter Three

* * *

Soul is seated sluggishly over his desk as Professor Stein goes on about the daily dissections. _Man, could class be any more of a drag? _Dozing off little by little, he starts to peer around the room curiously. Maka was seated prudishly over her seat, her legs tightly crossed together as she read a book, absorbed in its pages. Soul glances to the right. Tsubaki is sitting quietly as she attempted to listen to the teacher's passionate lesson. He was currently sawing open the fleshy and gory chest of… Well, Soul didn't really want to know. Beside her, the seat was empty and she continued to look over to it unhappily. _I guess Black*Star's ditching… Again. _Soul sighs as he leans back into his chair. _Why did I even bother coming? _Soul scoots in his chair as he perches his head on top of his arm. His eyes are half-lidded as he begins to nod off once more. He slowly goes off into his thoughts.

* * *

As days slowly passed by, people started to calm down over the enrollment of Death the Kid, everyone more or less attending school in a repetitive and boring manner as before. However, that didn't mean nobody took notice of Kid's presence. He had a noble air about him, a heavy, austere atmosphere dawning on everyone who attempted to chat with him. Kid and his entourage would saunter around in a proud manner, their footsteps even and paced, the Thompson sisters walking in perfect harmony as Kid forced them too. Liz and Patti stayed to Kid's left and right, respectively, walking flawlessly at his side as he scolded them to. Girls would look off in awe and admiration for the dark and mysterious shinigami as guys would bob their head in acknowledgement at the advanced level of skills and class Kid possessed.

But Soul wasn't fooled. He _saw _how Kid was like the first day he had enrolled. _Who would have known a spoiled rich kid like him would have a severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?_ Soul never really thought as much about him ever since their first battle, his initial presumptions about Kid were shattered as he learned about his unhealthy obsession with symmetry. They never shared a real conversation either, excluding the taunt Soul had made at the Kid in the front of the school as well as a recent harassment he incurred over the other.

_Geez… _

The first couple days with Kid were absolute hell for Soul. Soul wasn't one to be easily peeved off at other's actions but Kid's little habits caught nothing but his attention, oftentimes leaving Soul distracted as he crushed pencils in annoyance. Half of the time, the shinigami would be looking off in horror at the lopsided posters, paintings, as well as other miscellaneous objects, even if they were off only by a barely discernible centimeter from the center.

Black*Star, one day, recklessly pointed out the three white stripes at the side of Kid's head. That sent him into an eternity of depression and self loathing. Liz and Patti would be at his side to mock him then cheer him up and he would almost always naively fall for their unchanged compliments. Soul sometimes caught such nervous breakdowns and would throw in comments such as: _freak _or _weirdo _as he passed by.

He was a brilliant kid, intelligent and studious like Maka, but unlike her, he didn't have as much drive as well as concentration. Soul, remembered when he first bullied Kid with his headband during class.

"You are undeserving of that lip medallion on your head!" He had spit out as he went ballistic in front of the public eye of everyone who observed closely. Professor Stein fixed his glasses as he stood a calm and willing spectator even at the brawl that broke out in the middle of the lesson.

Soul immediately dashed outside as he found no more room for cover in the crowded classroom. The shinigami immediately kicked open the doors as he caught up with him, making exaggerated hand motions as his eyes sparkled malevolently. Patti and Liz would trail after him. _Never will I do that again… _Soul grumbled as he started to skid across the halls whilst blocking Kid's blows.

After some recurring hit and misses, Kid enlisted the help of Patti and Liz and flooded Soul full of soul wavelength bullets. Soul had trouble moving for quite a while at the painful shocks his nerves sent out whenever he took a step. As he struggled out of bed the next morning, only one thought and emotion was plastered his face: resentment. _I… Don't like him._

_

* * *

_

Soul indolently looks over to the side when he hears the classroom doors clack open. _Well, well, who's tardy now? _

He groaned as he slapped a palm over his face when a couple of the classmates fawned over Kid when he serenely entered class. Soul scoffs bitterly_. The guy whose company I'm currently loathing is the very one to step in… How lucky. _This was one of the rare days that Soul attended class so it was bad chance that it was _also_ a day when Kid didn't waste _all _of the period wandering around for asymmetrical errors in the halls.

As Kid climbed up the stairs and Soul glared over to him, he stared blankly before walking past Soul and stopping behind the empty seat to the left of him. His bangs flutter lightly as he elegantly pulls up the chair with both hands and sit down. He stares on intently at the board in front of him. Soul merely stared on surprised.

He hadn't expected that. _He took this seat out of… Huh. _Soul winces as do the other students when Patti and Liz come rushing in. Patti gives a giggly pat to her exhausted sister as she takes a seat somewhere in the front. Liz walks up toward the row Kid and Soul sat in, and as she passes by, Soul overhears the whisper she utters to Kid.

"Kid, you idiot, we're late _again _because you had to fix _every _single painting on the way over here." She takes an empty seat somewhere in the far left of the row.

_Figures that was the reason for the tardy… _Soul looks over to the side as the class continues with the lesson. Out of nowhere, he hears the sound of clothes ruffling and turns, only to see Kid scrutinizing over the placement of his tie to ensure that it was perfectly in the middle. While he does so, Soul studied the stoic shinigami's features. He had a double ringed set of golden eyes that popped out from the others. His face is pale and his body is slim, and every time Soul saw him on school grounds, he was dressed in regal attire. Most of the time though, he would wear the simplistic business suit, all customized to match his fixation on symmetry. _He's pretty good-looking... _Soul's eyes go wide as he slaps himself awake at the dazed thought. Kid merely stares oddly at the large smacking sound before continuing to fix his tie. Once he felt that it was balanced, he lazily smiles before gaping onward once more. Soul couldn't help but groan at the lovesick smile he had made.

_The dude has a really sick fetish for symmetry… _Soul had initially thought of him as calm, collected, and self-centered, the usual, stereotypical traits for an aristocrat. For a while now, he just thought _weird _and _creepy_, spamming such insults often times to describe Kid's fanatical character.

The two weren't at the best relationship currently. Not too long ago, Black*Star had foolishly picked a fight with the shinigami, and Soul, also foolishly, had backed his friend up in battle, only to have their asses thoroughly kicked despite the advantage in numbers. However, as much as they couldn't land any lethal blows, Soul managed to slice off a quarter of his symmetrical bangs. His bangs had grown out once more and after cutting them evenly, looked the same as when they had first met. But, Kid didn't let things go _that _easily, especially not since Soul bullied him frequently enough by pointing out asymmetrical things during the entire length of class.

For a while now, Soul and Kid had been ignoring each other, neither ever striking up any type of small talk with the other. Not that Soul really minded, because Black*Star did enough talking for the both of them every hour. Speaking of the loud-mouthed assassin, he managed to annoy the shinigami more each passing day, despite Kid being on unfriendly terms with the laid-back Soul, he was practically a step away from hostile with Black*Star.

Soul bit his tongue down as a thought surfaced. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself, but he was pretty fascinated with the quirky shinigami as well. Intrigued, Soul continues to look at him but the other was oblivious to the stare. He had his hands clasped in front of his mouth as he continued to stare forward.

His mouth opens as he utters a curious "Huh…" _What is he looking at? _Soul narrowed an eye as he attempts to find the part he was so attentively focused on. _I don't understand… There's nothing interesting written on the board… _He continues to make funny faces over to the board as he pryingly scanned the room for what Kid could be possibly analyzing. Kid suddenly starts to hiss as his stare turns into an annoyed glare. Soul merely looked on in bewilderment. _Did he catch me looking? _Soul looks at him and sees that Kid now had some kind of demonic aura bleeding out of him from every direction. _Oh, whatever… I'm going back to sleep… _Soul loses interest and immediately puts his head down to sleep, easily nodding off in the quiet atmosphere. When he opens his eyes, all he sees are empty chairs and a small puddle of drool from where he had dozed off. "Mm…" He scratches at his head lazily and yawns. "Class is over, huh?" As he stretches his back, he hears the sound of a painting squeak across from him. … _Speak of the devil… It's Kid. _

Kid was angrily fixing the portrait that hung near the board.

Soul nods. _So that's what it was… _He secured his loosened headband over his forehead as he made his way down to Kid. _Man, he's so into it… He doesn't even notice that I'm behind him._

He moved it to the left and to the right indecisively as he continued to growl quietly. "Disgusting… Utterly_ revolting_…" His voice was dark and low, a pent up fury brewing inside of him. Kid was budging it by so little that Soul couldn't tell the difference. He finally steps back to admire the picture. "Ah… _Absolutely_ perfect." He murmurs in a sickeningly infatuated tone. "It's a shame that you were off by a millimeter during the whole class…" Soul shakes his head.

"You're _kidding_. It looked fine…" Soul grumbled from behind him, putting out a disapproving hand. Kid abruptly turns around, making Soul flinch at the sudden movement.

"… _You_." He narrows his eyes dangerously as he hisses it.

Not knowing what to say, Soul dully scratches the back of his head before countering with an unenthusiastic and dreary: "Uh… You. Uh… Back at _you_…" Kid looks at him wordlessly. "Ah, I don't know." He resignedly sighs as the shinigami relaxes his fierce expression. _How un-cool of me…_ Soul turns to leave before Kid speaks once more.

"Hey." He calls after him, Soul stops dead in his tracks, curious to listen to the usual and wordless stoic shinigami.

"Yeah, need something?" Soul's eyebrow bunches up as he perks up an ear.

Kid stuffs his hand into his pockets as he bleakly states. "… Take off your clothes."

"… S-say what?" Soul stutters. _I heard him wrong. Please tell me I heard the dude wrong. _"I'm sorry; I think you're going to have to repeat that…" _Did he just say… What I think he said?_

Kid repeats himself, sounding the same as before. "Take off your clothes."

_T-the fuck? I never did anything that would make him come on to me. And just who the hell says something like that out of nowhere? _Soul turns around as he tediously faces Kid. "Uh… Look, I think I like my clothes _on_." He sighs. _Why am I always stuck with the weirdoes? _"If that's all you have to say –"

Kid interrupts with a snap. "Symmetry; it's my aesthetic. Your headband. Your posture. Your hair. Your _toothy_ grin…" He starts to list.

_My – My 'toothy' grin? _Soul looks on offended at the statement.

"Your sweater is _almost _perfect… Yet you ruined it with the yellow splotch on the side…"

A cog in Soul's brain clicks as he nods in realization. _Of course… OF – FUCKING – COURSE. This is Kid I'm talking to. He's probably the ONLY one in existence who says stuff like that without having a single dirty, suggestive thought in his head… _Soul chuckled at his misunderstanding.

Kid merely narrows his eyes angrily at the sound of laughter. _Crooked… Smile… _

He looked at the shinigami a little miffed before replying apathetically. "Okay."

"Excuse me?" Kid looked at him, apparently offended in small misinterpretation.

Soul did the exact opposite of what he usually did. He was feeling laid-back enough. He grumbles sketchily. "Yeah. Sure, I'm in a good _enough_ mood today." He relaxes as he unties his sweater, revealing a plain white shirt underneath. He ties the sweater around his waist so the front with the 'yellow splotch' doesn't show. He composedly unfastens his headband and slips it into the pocket of his sweater, making a slight but unnoticeable budge. "Can't do much about my posture and grin though…" He grumbles before seeing Kid approach and outstretch a pale ringed hand toward him. "Huh?" With long, delicate, and smooth fingers, he traces the flesh on Soul's face. "W-what?" He grows flustered at the subtle touch, before chagrin overcame him and he shoved the intruding hand off. "Whoa, _whoa_, I don't swing that way…" He corrects, putting up a hand in caution.

However, the implications die off when he ruffles Soul's hair aggressively and scowls when it doesn't change shape. Soul holds in a laugh at the tickling massage of the fingers that feel his head thoroughly.

_Oh. _"I can't do much about my hair either." _I never even brush my hair; it just stays that way now…_

Soul never cared about being neat and tidy. His room was an explosive mess, random textbooks and novels scattered about. _When did I even buy this book? _He would ask himself as he uncovered chance books from the bottom of the bed. Every once a month, he would give one of them to Maka. _Uh, here, book. _She would merely shudder as she read the cover: '_The Contemporary Dance of the Surreal Louse Bandit'… Wow. Thank you, Soul? _

When one entered it, (usually they wouldn't due to the preservation of personal safety), they had to make sure to shove aside things with their foot as there wasn't nearly enough room to move around. Even his bed was constantly unmade as he left it as it was; the blanket dragged unto the floor as Soul scratched at his stomach and smacked his lips together over to the bathroom first thing in the morning.

His hair remained uncombed and when he washed it with shampoo, he wrung it out like a rough mop, uncaring of the damage he did to his scalp and the strands. When he prepared his daily wardrobe, he threw random clothing unto the bed, indifferent of whether the colors didn't match or that it would look ridiculous together. _Hey, guys who don't care about stuff like that are cool, right? _He would contradict when people twitched and murmured to themselves at the horrendous fashion faux-pa.

Despite all that back talk he would usually argue with, Soul followed Kid's whims. _Eh, it's not every day someone tells you take off your clothes, especially not a boy so fixated on an unhealthy, uptight, and addictive obligation to have everything on his body and in the vicinity be symmetrical… Huh. _He stands in front of Kid in his semi-symmetrical glory as the shinigami stared eerily, measuring out details carefully with his eyes. _Creepy._

He adjusts Soul's sweater, the one tied around his waist, once more. "Such a shame a knot can't be symmetrical." But notwithstanding that, Kid seems pleased enough and he even leers positively over to Soul. His voice is poised and elegant now; oozing sophistication and asceticism. "Isn't it much _better_ when things are perfectly balanced from left to right?" He puts up his two fingers from each hand, moving them up and down as he speaks on.

At first, Soul stares blankly at the passionate sounding Kid. He sneers. _Maybe I can tease him a bit… _"Heh… I guess so." Kid smiles at the agreement. Soul continues on, his tone going more cynical. "But in case you didn't know, our faces aren't symmetrical from left to right. If you take one half and reflect it over to the other, it's _completely _different."

Kid's eyes widen in horror and his body stands paralyzed. "What?" His voice goes a little husky and deep as he silently faces the floor. Soul approached him and wacked him on the back.

"Everyone's face is asymmetrical then. Including _yours_, Kid…" Soul snorts when Kid bobs his head down in defeat.

Much to Soul's distaste, Kid lashes out at him as he pounds on the floor in defeat, once again stooping down to his knees. "Who am I to criticize others? I'm _scum_! Asymmetrical _scum_!" He starts to snivel as Soul merely looks off in incomprehension once more.

_Again? … Crap, I don't know how to calm down people. _Despite sounding an unenthusiastic and dead "H-huh? Kid?" Soul was regretting it quicker than pie.

"I am lower than garbage! I am _ASYMMETRICAL_!" He screams as Patti and Liz step into the doorway, grumbling.

"No, not again, Kid…" Liz groans as she slaps herself in the face. Patti merely bends over in hysterical laughter. "Kid, you're not garbage…"

"No, you're _right_! I'm not!" Liz sighs in relief, as does Soul, but it is extremely short-lived. Kid hastily corrects: "I'm _lower _than garbage!" He continues to pound the floor with all his strength as the floor started to rattle under a confused Soul.

_Damn, I'm going to lose my footing if this earthquake continues… _Soul groaned.

"Oops, said the wrong thing… Patti! Your turn!" Liz beckons over Patti, who continues to cackle, her stomach in knots and her eyes in tears.

Patti wipes at her eyes before ducking down to pat at Kid's head. "You are so _not _lower than garbage!" Kid looks up hopefully. "Cuz' if you were, you'd be, _like, _the sewers! And the sewage dump is, _like_, eew~!" She sniggers as she stretches out her arms and pinches her nose shut in demonstration. Kid's head sinks back down, even lower this time.

"I _AM _THE SEWAGE DUMP!" Kid shouts as he twists his arms around and distorts his face in anguish and torture. Patti continues to giggle, unfazed.

Liz thwacks herself in the face as Soul stares on absentmindedly, unable to deter his eyes away from the sight. "This is so un-cool…"

Liz wiggles Patti hysterically as she yells. "Patti! That's not_ helping_!" She lets go of her sister to attempt to calm the panic-stricken, yet highly amusing Kid.

"Does he do this often?" Soul asks casually, pointing over to the sobbing mess on the floor. His hands settle back into his pockets of his maroon jeans. He taps his foot impatiently as Kid continues to bawl overdramatically.

Patti nods as she continues to idly pat at him reassuringly. "Oh, you have _no _idea. We practically used up _all _our ideas too… Ur… Hey, Kid… You're a shinigami and shinigami aren't sewage dumps! Wait, no, that was pretty bad…" She shrugs then shakes her head. "Uh… Yeah, see?" She faces Soul back in reply before Kid makes a blood-curdling scream and she turns her attention back to him.

Soul shakes his head in apathy as he unties his jacket from his waist. "_Whatever_, I'm out of here…" Soul groaned as he turned for the door. "Ciao, dudes." He waves an unconcerned hand at them as he tosses his sweater over his shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa… _You _made him like this." Liz growled as she hand signaled Patti over. Patti lightheartedly pops an "Ok!" sign up over her head before running over to the doorway to block it. Soul stares at the petite, silly girl dumbfound. She huffs as she flexes her arms threateningly. Soul raises an eyebrow at the terrifying (?) force that was Patti.

"Are you _serious_?" Soul pauses. _Huh. I did cause it, huh? _He shrugs before approaching Kid. "I'll _try _but don't expect any results… I suck ass at this kind of consoling stuff." Liz didn't seem to care as she flicked a hand over to Kid. Soul grimaced as he bent down to Kid's level and awkwardly put a hand to his back. "Don't say I didn't warn you…" Liz flaps her hand once more as Soul sighs and starts. "Uh, _Kid_? You're _not_ a sewage dump because you know… They don't have faces… Or something like that… Wait, no, no, that came out wrong. Hold on, I'll try again."

Liz looks on hopelessly as Patti carelessly cackles on the side. Kid is in the same desperate state as before.

Soul clears his throat, coughing sturdily into his fist. "Uh, you said _symmetry_ is beautiful, right?" Kid peeks out an eye in misery. _Whoa, he even cries symmetrically_, Soul thought as he saw the tears dribble down Kid's cheeks. "Uh, well… Uh, _you're _uh… Well, _not_ beautiful, that would be for chicks…"

Kid narrows his eye in aversion. Patti still laughs as Liz shushes her. "Hold on, this is getting interesting…"

"But, you're really _gorgeous_…" Soul puts his thumb to his chin. "Wait, _no_… That's for girls, too… Well…" Soul waves a palm up and down as he tries to struggle for some compliments. _I am so un-cool; useless at this kind of charming gentleman stuff… _"Well, you're really…" _Ah, I know! _"You're absolutely _perfect _so uh… You can't be a… Uh…" He ponders. "_Sewage dump_, was it? Because, you know, they're really gross and un-cool… So you can't be." Kid stares up, his tears stopped. Soul grumbles awkwardly and being at a loss for words, he bears a toothy grin before flashing a thumb up at Kid.

Liz and Patti stare on expectantly with a faint blush at their cheeks. Still, Liz wasn't impressed. _Wow… The guy wasn't kidding. That really sucked…_

Kid's eyes thin into near invisible slits. "_Really_, you think so?" His voice is now masculine, dark, and husky, contrasting his whiny sobs from before.

Liz put her hands to her eyes. _Seriously, rich kids nowadays are so gullible… _Patti utters an "Ohhhh…"

_Uh… _Soul hesitantly nods as he continues to awkwardly smile, flashing his sharp, pointed teeth at the other.

Kid perks up, his confidence and noble air returned. "Alright." He answers as he gets to his feet with the girls beside him. He starts to pat away the dust that clung to his suit. Soul just stares on gawkily as he also gets to his feet. Kid continues to stare on exuberantly at Soul, a radiant gleam in his golden eyes.

_Can I… Can I go now? _Soul relaxes once more as he glances over to the clock. _I think I missed break-time… _Whilst Soul looks the other way, Kid pushes up both of Soul's cheek painfully with his index fingers. "Hey! O-ow!" Soul slaps away the jabbing fingers from his cheeks as he massages them. "What was that for, you ungrateful –" Soul starts to swing a belligerent fist as his eyes turn a more violent shade of crimson.

"… Asymmetrical." Kid growled, anger and frustration sneakily seeped back into his voice.

"…" Soul stares vacantly, his left eye twitching a little in aggravation as Kid continued to correct his crooked mouth in dissatisfaction, jabbing the indents of his mouths up in a none-too-gentle manner. _ARE YOU – ARE YOU SHITTING ME? _He uncurls his fists as he tries to fight back the urge to sock him in the face.

Patti falls to the floor in laughter, rolling on her back giddily, as Liz continues to stare at them with a tinge of pink permanently marked unto her cheek. "Huh… What do you know?" She scoffs.

* * *

Read and review!


	4. First Lunch Together

Not a lot of people seem to like this pairing (Soul/Kid; Kid/Soul) … *sad face*

Thanks to those who fav'ed this story or put it on alert~ _Please_ review next time though... ;(

Oh well, here's Chapter… Four? _Yeah_, four!

* * *

Kid sits quietly at the edge of the table as he organizes his food plate. His weapons are seated right beside him as he continues to saw into the porcelain dish, cutting up the steak into individual, symmetrical pieces. Liz lazily applies blue polish unto her sharpened nails before puckering her lips and blowing over them once. Patti is currently stabbing at her vegetables repeatedly, playing out an imaginary battle with them.

Like any normal set of human beings, Soul and Maka couldn't help but twitch at the odd sight. Soul continues to forcefully eat the slop that covers his dish as Maka enjoys her salad. "I wonder if they repeat that same process _every_ day…" She ponders, before getting out of her seat and calling Tsubaki and Black*Star over when she sees them come within reach. The assassin slams down his tray loudly unto the table, purposely attracting the attention of the annoyed students from around him, and lunges into the seat before high-fiving Soul. Tsubaki calmly sets down her plates and eating utensils as she slides into her seat. "How are you guys today?" Maka chats. Tsubaki smiles as the two girls go off into their own little world and continue to make small-talk.

Black*Star immediately stashes his greasy hamburger into his mouth as he starts to chew noisily. Soul could see chunks flying out unto the table as he did so. The scythe merely makes a disgusted face, pushing his incoming upchuck back down, as he dumps his leftovers into the garbage bin. He proceeds to the bathroom to wash his greasy hands.

_Never will I ever eat Sloppy Joes with my bare hands… _He splashes cold water on himself as he grumbles. "Ugh, I think I lost my appetite seeing Black*Star, not that I really had one…" He shudders as he thinks back to the slop that rested uncomfortably at the pits of his stomach. When he finishes washing his hands, he growls at the empty paper towel dispenser. _Damn it… _

He pushes open the door back to the cafeteria and waits beside it, looking as unsuspicious as he could. A student passes by him to enter, and as he does, Soul inconspicuously slides a wet hand over the unlucky, unaware student's back, successfully drying it. _Ha, easy does it. _

He didn't really feel like returning to his table, only to come rushing back into the restroom in case of gagging at the demonic horror that was Black*Star's disgusting eating habits. _No thank you… _He glances around the cafeteria. Students are all separated into their specific groups, conversing with their peers as they lazily sat around.

His eyes turn over to Kid absentmindedly as he analyzes the shinigami's eating habits. _So well-mannered even at a place like this… He even has a napkin spread across his lap. _Soul chuckles when he notices that Kid's table was the only one in the whole cafeteria to have a white cloth drenched over it as well as the atmospheric glow of a candle light. _The only one using fine china and silverware dining sets too… _Kid pops in a perfectly square slice of meat into his mouth, chewing it noiselessly as he dabs his mouth with a napkin. He slides a wet tongue over his lips, trailing the outline of his mouth, before sipping at his tea. Soul couldn't help but turn a tinge of red before snapping his attention back into a more appropriate tone.

He finds himself longingly staring at the steak eloquently cut out in front of the shinigami. _… Looks way better than the Sloppy Joes I had… _Soul drools a little as his stomach savagely growled, much like the times he did when he saw a tasty, hovering, unclaimed soul. He approaches Kid's table and boldly takes a slice of meat from the other's dish without asking. As he drops it into his mouth, Soul fawns over the tasty and savory delicacy that was Grade-A beef. He sighs contently before seeing Kid peek up at him with a void face. _Crap, he's pissed, huh?_

"_What _are you doing?" He asks.

_Sounded harmless enough. _Soul answers honestly, his words coming out choppy like a caveman. His appetite was affecting him more drastically than he thought. "Hungry. Steak seemed good." He gulps it down before hungrily gazing back at the occupied dish once more. He chooses against taking another piece, deciding to suck his fingers clean instead.

Kid arches an eyebrow, confused on how to take such a blatant answer and show of appetite before shoving the plate out in front of the death scythe. He clacks the silverware down at the side, signaling Soul to take it as he moves his arms back to his sides slowly.

"… Me?" He points a finger to himself, stupefied at the deed.

Kid nods, folding his arms.

"Really?"

Kid nods again.

Soul makes sure to confirm the other's decision one last time. "The _entire _dish?" Kid doesn't bother to indicate his answer this time and he happily takes it a yes. Soul smiles before plopping down on the table, seated eye to eye with the young shinigami.

Liz flinches at the shifting weight of the table and accidentally marks nail polish unto the knuckle of her fingers. She looks off to scowl at the one responsible before expressing revelation at Soul who was so overzealously seated across from her meister.

The shinigami quietly watched as the scythe picked up the silver fork. Instead of expressing gratitude and appreciation at the rare act of kindness, Soul, without more ado, gets straight down to business as he starts to pick off multiple pieces with the fork and chomp them down with his saw teeth. Kid grits his teeth as the symmetry that was so immaculately formed on the dish starts to disappear. He advances to the bread bowl that was placed near the middle of the table. Nobody seemed to have touched it yet. Soul shrugs before swallowing the white bread rolls whole greedily. When Soul is finished eating, he mockingly dabs his mouth with a napkin as Kid himself did, and licks the fork and dish clean. He finishes with a burp before rubbing his stomach blissfully.

"… I take it _my _lunch was to your liking?" Kid asks as he finishes the rest of his tea.

"Eh, the quantity was lacking but the quality made up for it."

_Bottomless pit… _Kid shudders to himself.

Soul sneers as he puts his thumb and his index finger to his mouth and makes a boisterous smacking sound, blowing out a kiss. "I send the chef my regards."

Kid, a bit irked, holds a fake smile and bobs slightly. "I'm pleased to know that you have enjoyed your afternoon meal." He holds out a hand scornfully in front of Soul, signaling a desire for compensation.

Soul widens his eyes when Kid decides to play along. He flashes his sharp teeth. "Oh, and will there be any _dessert_?" He slaps the empty palm, resulting in an "Ouch" from the other.

Kid looks off displeased as he kneads his stinging palm. He smacks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "_Don't_ push it."

"Ha, it was pretty _damn_ good. Thanks, Kid." Soul sneers. It was genuine but it looked disdainful and contemptuous at best.

Kid blinks twice before moving a hand over to the side of Soul's lips. Soul flinches but doesn't turn away from the touch, merely waiting as the soft fingers brush at his mouth almost affectionately. Then Soul feels a slight tug of flesh as Kid flicks off the single crumb of bread that clung to Soul's face. The shinigami almost seductively sticks out his tongue, grazing the crumb down on the damp surface of the fleshy appendage. He curls his tongue from inside his mouth and slides the small crumb down his throat. Kid smacks his mouth with satisfaction as a stunned Soul stares on. "… _What_? The crumb further threw off your _already_ asymmetrical self." He snapped.

_Y-yeah… But you didn't have to swallow it. _Soul felt overwhelmed for a bit, but immediately his cool demeanor snakes back in. He sucks in his lips like a vacuum before uneasily brushing a hand through his locks. He begins to reassure himself in thought. _It was probably just a reflex… He probably doesn't even know the weight of what he did. _"Well, thanks for the meal, Kid… I'll see you later." He salutes Kid as he slides out of the table. As he makes it back to his three primary lunch buddies, he absentmindedly traces the part that Kid touched with his own fingers before wrenching his hand away at the thought. _W-what am I doing? _His cheek still felt warm and flushed, apparently set off by the delicate touch that Kid had executed.

* * *

Kid cracks his individual knuckles before he folds out his hands in front of him, his elbows perched unto the table. He absentmindedly stared over at Soul's hasty departure. Liz looked on. "Now what was _that _about, Kid?"

"What was _what_?" He obliviously asks.

Liz rolls her eyes and states her opinion as transparently as she could. "… The little _heated_ atmosphere around you two? The little 'Oh, there's a crumb, let me lick it off for you' _couple_ move?" She emphasizes the word _couple. _She gestures at him suggestively but Kid looks at her unchanged.

"… When did I _lick_ the crumb off?" He corrects.

_You anal Q-tip… That's NOT the point! _She forcefully laughs her frustration off and begins to tease him. "I saw you swallow the crumb down _hungrily_~ _And_ if that doesn't prove my point, it was _right _after you brushed it off from his face too…" She has a sadistic grin plastered on her face. _Got you beat, Kiddo._

"What _point_?" Liz was one step away from slamming her forehead down on the table. "I _was _hungry. He ate my _entire_ lunch." He groaned.

She slaps herself in the face. _Could he be any denser? _Regardless, she stubbornly continues her interrogation. "Uh-uh-uh, did you _have _to give it to him in the first place?" She wags a finger rudely in front of his face as he wordlessly fumes.

"And pray tell me just _why_ you care so much?" He asks.

_Oh, oh! He's getting defensive! _Liz hypes before toning it down. _Then again, he's defensive about anything that's neither a fact nor symmetrical… _She dismisses the topic with a wave of a perfectly manicured hand. _I'm not going to risk getting on his bad side again. _"No, _no_, never mind. I'm _entirely _wrong and you're _entirely _right, Kid." She retracts her statement hastily, but Kid still gives her a muted and cross look in reply before clearing away his dishes and making his way out of the cafeteria. When he's entirely out of her view, Liz turns to Patti abruptly, with a hand pressed to the side of her mouth as she whispers. "Psst, hey… _You_ noticed the sexual tension between the two, right, Patti?" She turns over to her little sister with a serious look before twitching when Patti continued to chaotically battle the imaginary monster on her plate. "P-Patti?"

The girl stabs down the fork on the center of the plate, cracking it down the middle as it thrust into the table below. "_Critical_ hit!" The fork stays put, jutting out of the surface. Patti then proceeds to grip at the sides of the white cloth that covered the table, preparing to tug. "Time for a _finisher_!" Liz only widens her mouth in terror as to what was going to happen.

* * *

Soul hears the sound of porcelain shattering as well as the frantic screams of a lady from behind him. He decides to shrug it off as he sits down on the table. Maka suddenly bursts at him. "Why'd you suddenly ditch us for Kid?" She has a gleam to her eye.

… _Had she been looking? _He wavers a little before answering dully. "He had _steak_."

"Oh. Is that _all_?" She asks, stuffing more of the iceberg lettuce into her mouth. She had dressed the salad in low-sodium ranch. She pivots her fork between her fingers.

"… Well, _yeah_."

"… Is that _really _all?" Like Liz, Maka had detected something between the two of them with the help of female intuition as well as the blessing of common sense. _It doesn't take a genius to notice that something's up…_

"You're nosy." Soul huffed. "Why don't you enjoy your veggies _quietly_?" He flaps a hand back and forth, shooing her away.

Instead of objecting to his sign of disrespect like usual, she seemed relatively calm. "Fine, _don't_ tell me." She shakes her head as she turns back to Tsubaki. "_Well_, I'm glad you enjoyed your _steak_."

Soul merely lowers his gaze. _Huh. She didn't do her infamous Maka-chop._

Black*Star talks with his mouth open, apparently eating a third helping of a hamburger: "Awf! No fair!" He spits out some unidentified hazardous chunks but Soul capably avoids them by ducking to the side. "I fwant schteak…" He comes out muffled and unclear but in spite of it, he chomps down on the burger, undeterred at the thought of grossing out everyone in the surrounding vicinity, which he successfully did. Soul, once again sickened, sinks into the seat as he clutched at his mouth.

_Of course, Black*Star just HAD to be eating extras… _"Ah… Dude, you mind eating _without_ blowing chunks unto the table? You're giving me nausea." He mumbles. Black*Star merely grins, flashing him all the gunk that stuck to his teeth. "… Smooth, man, _smooth_." Maka grimaces as Tsubaki gasps. Unlike them, Soul wasn't going to sit around and wait for him to finish. He grumbles before making his way out of the cafeteria. Once the cafeteria doors clack behind him, tightly shut, he stretches lightly. _This is nice… So quiet and tranquil. _

Soul really appreciated some time by himself; like Kid, he valued isolation above that of company, not that he ever disregarded the second altogether. There were and always would be cheerful feelings only felt with friends, but in the long run, treats that were rarely tasted were the ones he came to long for more. Silence was always scarce when one hung out with a loudmouth like Black*Star, or got dragged out of the house to keep Maka company in bookstores or coffee shops as she read. Coffee shops and bookstores always carried a nice and calming atmosphere. Soul would listen to music with a large set of headphones, resting with his feet up on a chair as he slowly wagged his foot to the rhythm as low murmurs of voices echoed throughout the stylized walls of the cafe, all until the occasional idiot had the power to project words louder than the lyrics. Said idiot (usually a businessman with Blue-tooth) would shout into his phone, screaming out unnecessary details about his personal life, pissing off just about everyone there. Maka, being the quick-tempered chick she was (who also felt unjustly interrupted from a good read) would pick a fight, enlisting the help of a lazy, grumpy, and reluctant scythe.

The air from outside the stuffy, compact lunch tables was well-ventilated and fresh, and Soul took in a lungful of breath. Light shone in from the windows that marked so close to the ceiling. It was a soft, cool light, giving everything an airy blue hue. It was also deathly quiet, and Soul couldn't help but think that the halls at the time reminded him of the inside of a cathedral: that same, serene atmosphere where it felt as if no evil lingered.

As he sticks his hands into his pockets and wandered around the halls, he notices Kid standing in front of a grandfather clock, clutching his chin broodingly. _Huh, the lighting matches him. _Death the Kid looked appropriate under the cool blue illumination, the fuzzy, soothing light contrasting with his neurotic personality, yet matching his frosty and detached quality so peerlessly. _Everything feels so surreal… _"Kid?" His voice was laid back as he called out to the boy.

Kid looks over to him with dead yellow eyes, nodding in acknowledgement of Soul. The cerulean glow gave his already pale face an undead complexion. He instantaneously looks back to the clock, his eyes following the pendulum with hawk-like eyes. Soul walks over to him, standing by his side, as he too stares at the clock, feigning interest of it.

Soul analyzes the clock. _Huh, it looks symmetrical enough… Wonder what's bothering the freak now… _The grandfather clock in front of him is of prime, aged, high quality wood. The texture is nicely shaven down, waxed to shine unnaturally at any spectators, and it looks antique. Behind a glass casing, is a golden pendulum that swung to the left and to the right gently in rhythm. "It looks symmetrical." He utters. Kid doesn't answer, still humming to himself at the clock. _Did he not hear?_

"Yes, yes it does. This _is _Father's school after all." He says as he admires the professionally carved patterns on the side of the clock. Soul continues to hear the pendulum swing. "… It's well made, from a _true _artisan… But it's flawed."

Soul arches an eyebrow, holding back a yawn. It took Kid almost ten minutes to respond to his questions. Whenever someone tried to maintain a conversation with the shinigami, it was mostly full of awkward silences as they would wait on an answer. "How?" The clicks of wood fill the air as the pendulum continues to sway steadily from side to side.

"… Such a beautiful timepiece as this one is so fiercely marred by an atrocity…" He spits out acrimoniously. Kid's eyes are constricted.

_He seems tense. _"… And that atrocity _is_?" Soul's ears perk up as he looks off in wonder and bemusement.

Kid sighs as he lowers his arms to his side. "This damn _pendulum._" When he said _pendulum_, it sounded vile and offensive as if uttering a curse word.

Soul _almost _fell backward. He _almost_ slapped himself in the face at the ridiculousness of it all. _Almost. _"… You're kidding. That's how these types of clocks _all _look."

"I feel that it is a design _flaw_." Kid affirms. Soul merely scowls.

_Kid is extremely hard to chat with… I mean... Is this all he talks about, symmetry?_ Soul counters him."I like it. Things are perfect because they're _not_." _Just for once, I want to prove the brat wrong…_

Kid looks at him imposingly. He bickers. "… That doesn't make _any _sense… How can the _perfect _be flawed? That goes against the very definition of _perfect_."

"I think it's one's flaws that make them beautiful. It's one's flaws you come to adore along with the rest of their being." Soul grumbles, narrowing his eyes as the two exchange lightning and thunder in their glances. "Er... Or so I've heard..." He coughs nervously into his fist. _What am I getting so passionate about? I sound like an emotional blogger..._

"Oh, really? Now why don't you give me an example of such _flawed_ perfection?" He disputes, his hands raised up in front of him.

Soul smacks down on the raised hand, challenging him. _You. _Soul had almost answered that, but he holds his tongue as he thinks up an alternative comeback. He starts to ramble on his words. "You're _flawed_ too, you know… Does that make you any less _perfect_?" Soul's eyes widen in horror and dismay. _I-I said the same thing! Same, fucking thing, I just – I just phrased it differently! _He clamps his mouth down as he looks off into the opposite direction in mortification. _I am so un-cool… _

Kid couldn't tell whether to be offended at being called _flawed _or flattered at being called _perfect._ However, before he readies a reply, he decides to hone in on a stray strand of hair as he brushes his bangs to the side evenly. His OCD distracts him for a while before he starts to think back on what Soul had said. _So, when he called me 'absolutely perfect' the other time, he was actually calling me flawed? _A rope tugs painfully at the near non-existent heart of the aloof shinigami.

Kid had misunderstood the whole statement.

Soul glances at him when there is no retort. Kid was seething in irritation as his eyes glowed darkly. _Did he misinterpret it? _Soul quietly confirms it to himself._ It's so like Kid to only focus in on the negative… _He inwardly shrugs. _Maybe it's better for him to feel offended than disturbed… _The scythe felt only slightly disappointed at the reaction, his relief covering the majority of his being.

For the rest of the time, the two stand there in awkwardness, both of them facing the other direction as well as gawkily stashing their hands into their pockets. The pendulum continues to clack as it moves in suspension. Kid growls as he follows its alternating swing.

_No symmetry… _

_Symmetry… _

_No symmetry… _

_Symmetry… _

_No symmetry… _

_Symmetry… _

_No symmetry._

_Symmetry._

_… NO SYMMETRY!_

Kid only felt happy when the pendulum swung perfectly into the center but to make it worse, he noticed that the swivel at the bottom was slightly off in the symmetry department. _… Disgusting. _The shinigami had felt annoyed enough at Soul's words, at the uncomfortable sting at his icy heart, and at the loss of balance in the long case clock that he had momentarily found beautiful and without fault, but the repetitive sound proved only further detrimental to his quick temperament. He easily breaks the ice, bringing out a hand to pull open the glass casing abruptly, before clutching the pendulum and yanking it out almost brutally. Some gears clatter to the bottom of the interior of the clock as it stops ticking.

Soul looks over only to see Kid raise hell with the hunk of metal in his hand. He cocks an eyebrow calmly. "_Er_, Kid?"

Kid's eyes flash as he unleashes his fury and lunges back to throw the metal bar out like a javelin, smashing it through the windowpane in a straight line. Like a chain of dominoes, the powerful force smacks down on the rest of the aligned row of glass, breaking each and every window in the entire hall in a butterfly effect. The young shinigami, at possibly the most inappropriate time available, chose to fawn at the symmetrical wave of shattering glass that he had caused himself. Some of the broken glass flied out in multiple, imprecise directions, cutting up the faces of a smitten Kid and a shocked Soul.

The yell comes out extremely delayed, as Soul falters in tone as well as delivery. There was no denying the horror plastered on Soul's face at the moment, but he only managed to squawk out: "What the flying _fuck _did you do _that_ for?"

Kid does not give any show of hearing within the earshot.

Soul groans as students come clamoring out of the cafeteria at the ruckus. Shattered glass covered every bit of the floor and some students flinched as they stood piling up at the doorway. "Oh, brother…" Soul groaned jadedly, his monotonous voice crept back in as shivers ran down his spine. _This has got to be the biggest spectacle we've stirred up since the time he shot at me at the halls… _He glares over to Kid, only to notice that he was out of it, replaying the ripple effect in his head dotingly.

"So… _Exact_ and _perfect_…" He mumbles in a hazy tone. Soul is right about to give him one in the kisser when he hears a familiar yell.

"YOU _IDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIOOTT_! HOW IN THE WORLD ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR THESE DAMAGES?"

Soul winced; he recognized the gruff voice, and as he looked to the left, a deranged Maka ran at him with a clenched fist. "Ah, wait, it wasn't my –"

With the successful impact of that Maka chop, Soul had felt like he had aged an extra twenty years…

Along with the fifty he had got from Kid since the day they've met.

* * *

Ah, more fluff next chapter… Sorry for my slow pace! I am developing their fluff _slowly_… So damn painfully _slow_… Yes, I am hurting myself in the process as well.

I really hope you guys like it!

Read and review please! It'll make me happy! :'D (Happiness is essential to one's... Happiness)


	5. Compatible Souls

Okay, since I haven't updated in quite a while, here's an EXTREMELY long chapter.

I'm really sorry, but I really wanted to write a more action-oriented chapter, so there are only little tidbits of fluff. In the next chapter, there's going to be plenty~ (Read until the bottom for the next chapter's quickie – As in, I'll provide short sentences on what's coming next)

Hope you like it and make sure to leave feedback~

EDIT: Ah, of course, and I would like to thank everyone who put their time into reading, reviewing, fav'ing, or all three (all that good stuff) a million times! I really appreciate it X3 (Ha, the first sentence sounds like I'm accepting a trophy...)

* * *

Soul wasn't at the best of moods. Despite the fact that Kid was the one who was entirely at fault for the shattered glass incident, he also had to stay behind to clear up the mess. The scythe felt pretty embarrassed when students noticed him in the halls sweeping glass with a broom and a dust pan like a janitor. He could hear the faint murmurs sound as they clasped their hands around each other's ears and whispered.

"That's Soul… He and Kid broke the glass that was the uproar at lunch…"

"_No fair_! I wanted to see…"

"They're _infamous_ for starting riots."

"… I heard they fight _frequently_ in the halls…"

"Kid is _so _hot; I wonder why he hangs out with that Soul guy…"

"They don't _hang _out; heard they're rivals of some sort…"

"… Soul looks like a gang member; I heard he's a delinquent that flips off the authority _every_ chance he gets."

"… Oh, _please_. He's just an ordinary, lazy _slacker_…"

"What are you talking about? Soul's _everything _BUT ordinary~"

"… Shut up. But I guess it makes sense why a guy like _Soul _would want to pick a fight with that uptight _brat_… _Ugh_, rich kids annoy me too…"

"… _Somebody_'s jealous~"

"The _chill junkie _against the _irrational sociopath _all over again, man…"

"Dude, they totally got busted when they broke _all_ the windows…"

"School funding will be going down like a _bitch_…"

"… I heard Shinigami-sama's planning to give them a mission together!"

"No way! The two are polar opposites…"

"That's the _point_, butt-fart…"

Soul only lowered his head in shame as the chitchat worsened and the rumors got out of hand. _Just please shut up, my reputation is trampled on worse than road kill by now… _He peered over to Kid who merely turned a deaf ear to everyone's useless bickering. Soul stared blankly at the seemingly well brought-up boy then back at the mess said high class lad had made. _How can he look so mellow but act so… Weird?_

The shinigami and the scythe got to skip their classes, and Soul rejoiced in that specifically, but consequently, the two had to stay in after school, even after sweeping up all the hazardous blades that littered the floor. It had been thoroughly cleared, spotless (not that it was something either of the two could be too proud of) but their punishment was far from over.

Soul and Kid sat awkwardly, maintaining a comfortable distance away from each other as they waited outside the latter's father's office. The two looked as if they were sustaining their own personal forts in isolated corners of the bench. Soul sat up with his legs zigzagged, looping into each other as he perched his chin on top of an arm. His scarlet eyes glanced around from one crook of the hall to the other. On the contrary, Kid laid out his arms on top of his legs, his knee going across the other in a haughty manner before he growled at the asymmetry and settled on tapping his fingers over his knees idly.

After a short while, the silver haired boy huffs indignantly, trying to signal the other to stop in a not-too-subtle manner. No reply. He coughs twice. No reply. He clears his throat. Nada. Being thick-headed about body language, the other continues the repetitive tapping. "… Will you_ stop_ tapping your fingers?" Soul grumbles lazily, a condescendingly polite tone seeped into his voice.

Kid scowls, twisting one corner of his lip down. "_Make _me."

Soul shakes a fist weakly. "Eh, you don't want to pick a fight with me." He didn't sound very convincing with a yawn crept into his voice.

Kid doesn't return the taunt, not too threatened by the other's nonchalant behavior. His shoulders slump down while Soul leans into the wall behind him.

_At least he stopped that tapping… _"So…" Soul talks as Kid stares blankly ahead like a cyborg. "When's your pop getting here?"

"… _Father _has been held up for quite a while. I can't say I know for sure." He sighs. He interlocks his fingers as he perches his chin on top of his knuckles in a manner similar to Soul's.

"… 'Kay." He answers in a laid-back tone of voice. He digs his hands into his pockets as he continued to lean into the wall with his legs still crossed together. Soul felt increasingly uncomfortable as he tried to maintain his 'cool' posture. His legs gave out underneath the weight as they numbed painfully. He stiffly pulls them out as he held back a girlish shriek. _Feels like little spiders are walking all over them. _Soul bit into his lips as he spread his legs into a more crude yet comfortable position. Kid merely arched an eyebrow as he looked on with an amused expression at the struggling, heaving Soul beside them.

"… Your legs fell asleep, didn't they?" Kid smirks as he looks on cockily.

_I hate him even more when he's right…_ Soul groaned as he brought out his earphones and slipped them on.

"… You have those on a lot during class."

A bored "Uh-huh." was Soul's reply.

"What do you listen to?" Kid asked curiously.

… _Is he actually trying to make small talk with another human being? _Soul looked on dumbfound as his earphones slid off. "… Some rock, some rap." Kid made a typical face. "_Classical_ if I feel like it… I really like _jazz_ though." He mutters the last sentence under his breath. Kid smiled discreetly, expressing subtle delight at the discovery.

"_Really_? I didn't expect the last two choices."

_Pfft. I didn't expect half of the things that came from you, but you don't see me saying that out loud. _"Yeah, _well_, I live to trump expectations." Soul snorted cynically, not exactly meaning it. He was pretty cocky, but he wasn't arrogant.

His smug line was referenced from that of a boastful protagonist in an action movie that he had recently watched with Black*Star. He had fallen asleep halfway and Black*Star had his eyes sparkling vibrantly until the end credits. That specific movie was the majority of Black*Star's lame lectures about how epic he was. Unlike him, the assassin _was _that arrogant.

Kid's eyes widen a little at the bold reply. "_Really_?" He asks in disbelief.

"Ch'," he clicks his tongue. "_No_."

Kid merely nods.

"… You?"

"You _what_?"

"What music do _you _listen to?" Soul asked, not exactly expecting anything special. _Probably some uptight ambience music burned for his lobby._

"I'm not quite sure… I don't listen to anything in particular." He cracks his neck. "Anything that fits with me, I guess." Kid answers as his eyelids droop from fatigue.

_So even HE gets exhausted from time to time, huh? _"Cool. You play anything?"

"… I used to play the violin, the viola, and the cello. I liked the viola the most… So _balanced. _Not too screechy and not too low." He smiles to himself as his eyes sparkle adoringly at the fond sounds that returned with the memory. "It was a perfect equilibrium from left to right."

Soul makes a wounded expression. _A string instrument… Like Wes. _However, Soul nods approvingly. _Not too many even know what a viola is. _He hands out a rare compliment, despite it being half-hearted. "Impressive…" Soul then instantaneously furrows an eyebrow. "Wait, _used _to?"

Kid scratches his chin as he pondered on whether to share it or not. He starts off reluctantly. "Well… I realized that the chin rest was always off to the left side." He looks over to Soul who listened intently. "I begged for personalization and I _finally_ had a specially tailored viola to suit my needs. It even came with a matching centered shoulder piece. … _That's_ when it hit me."

Soul looked on, engrossed in his tale.

"… The tuning pegs would _always_ be at an angle."

_H-huh? _Soul didn't know much about the anatomy of a string instrument, but if he would ever decide to check out a diagram of one later on, he had a clue that it would probably be related to symmetry once more. Soul curved up his twitching red eyes and fought back an urge to slap the other in the face in both anger and annoyance. He reluctantly encouraged him to continue. "… And then?"

"… I had it fixed once more to match my tastes." He pauses. "… I must admit, everything felt awkward after the changes, but I was willing to adjust to the modifications if it assured symmetry… That's when it hit me once more…"

_Oh, here we go again… _Soul rolled his eyes as he thought so. _And here I thought we had something in common… That maybe he wasn't happy with his playing either… _Soul frowns lifelessly. _Whatever._

"The direction of the bow would always _cripple_ me… The way I held it… The heavy viola perched underneath my chin on the _left_; the light grace of an articulate bow on my _right_. _Always_ would be crippled." Kid growled sinisterly as he curled his fists menacingly.

"… Uh, Kid?"The scythe's voice went a little low at the end as his mouth contorted into an uneasy grimace.

The shinigami's temper started to rise dangerously as his tone increasingly grew hostile. "I _broke_ my viola into two that day… Smashed it into unrecognizable pieces and ground it up in the garbage disposal…" His voice grows disturbingly ominous yet composed. He spit out one last insult: "_Disgusting."_

_Should I be worried? Worried about his psychological state? _Soul's shoulders tense as he faces the other direction bluntly. He had moved away at least a foot in plain sight. His butt hung barely by an inch at the very edge of the bench opposite from the shinigami. He plugged his earphones on as he hummed and sang along lamely. "Nana-na-na-nana, da-dah-duh-da-dah-da-dah…"

The other sighs as his voice loosens into a more refined and courteous nature. He continued, oblivious to the other's anxiety. "I keep my bow for remembrance though. The little trinket is hung alongside another to keep up the symmetry on my bedroom wall."

Soul heard him regardless of the blaring ear set. _… How the hell am I supposed to respond to THAT? _Soul's tightly knit brow sweated as he didn't bother to ask any more questions for the remainder of that day.

* * *

Shinigami-sama got held up for some odd reason, so Soul and Kid had waited for nothing. The former kicked a soda can in mild annoyance whilst the latter tapped his foot over and over as he growled, scowled, and huffed in severe displeasure. The teacher recommended that they come back tomorrow for their appropriate punishment. Soul only nodded coolly as Kid wrenched his head to the side grouchily.

When he went home, he realized by the reflection on the window that his face was still bleeding from the previous injury inflicted by Kid. To make Soul's day even worse, Maka had socked him multiple times as well as striking a firm palm across his face after he had knocked twice at their door. He currently held a plastic bag of ice to his face as he stared on grumpily to an apologetic Maka.

"Ah, I'm really sorry, Soul… I didn't know it was _only_ Kid's doing." She rose up two arms in defense as she continued to plead with him. A First Aid Kit was spread across the table they sat at.

_I was TRYING to tell you that then too… Stupid Maka chops. _He merely sighed. "… It's okay." He pauses as he considers compensation for the undeserved assault. "You owe me though." It was only after she had finished beating him up that he managed to get his point in. She nodded as she brought up a roll of bandages to his forehead. "No, no, I'm fine." He scowled as he lowered down her eager, brusque hands. She wasn't the most experienced in assisting others in such manners; usually, with her strength and sketchiness, it usually went further downhill. "It's not open wound, dumb-ass."

Maka held in her annoyance as she sat back down. "Okay, okay, I'll let it slide… _For now_." She crossed her arms as she leaned back into her chair. Soul merely tried to keep his ice pack raised. His arms were bruised as well. She had bombarded him with blows when he put them up for resistance. "Hey, Soul." He groggily bobs up a head in acknowledgement. "What did you do that so effortlessly pissed the royal ass out of him anyway?"

"Great way to phrase it." He grumbled nonchalantly. "_All_ I did was say that flaws don't get in the way of stuff. That _nobody's_ perfect." He yawns tiredly. "But in another's eyes they _might_ be."

Maka arches an eyebrow ponderingly. "But in another's eyes, they might be? _What_? Perfect?" She suggests. He nods gloomily in reply. She giggles softly as she tries to suppress it with a hand. "Pfft!" In the end, her efforts are in vain, as her giggles turn to consecutive snorts. Soul wrinkles his nose unhappily. "That's so unlike you, Soul! Who knew you were so sentimental and _mushy_?" She starts to slap at her knee at the thought of Soul placing flowers on top of his hair. Soul winced at the word _mushy._

_I never thought that I'd ever be called 'mushy' in my entire lifetime. _"Leave me alone. I'm busy." He groaned as he got up from his chair. Maka continues to snort as he miserably limped away to his room.

"Ah, hold on, humor me! What _else _did you say?" She holds a mysterious grin, devious as well as mischievous.

He breathes out his nose as he rolls his eyes. "What else do you think? He got _pissed _'cuz he thought I called him flawed."

She blinks multiple times in awe and surprise. "Oh. _Wow. _Did you _really_?"

"_No_, I called him perfect." He blurted out frankly. After doing so, he bit down on his tongue regretfully. _Oh well, what's said is done. _

"Oh." She blushes lightly. "… That's really… _Sweet _of you."

Soul could have sworn she murmured _mushy _under her breath just now.

She looks down musingly as she puts a finger to her chin. She openly asks: "And did you _mean _it?" She waits patiently for an answer, careful on the ground she treaded.

Soul raises his eyebrows as well as answering automatically. "_Ah_, don't stick your paws into other people's business, Maka." He proceeds to his room before Maka chucks a small apple at the back of his head. Soul hisses lowly in pain as he bent down to retrieve the fallen apple.

"_Tell me_?" It didn't sound much like a suggestion but a command. Soul throws back the apple to her as she catches it in her hand not a second later.

"… I _guess_ I did. I don't really know." He answers truthfully.

Maka scoffs. "What do you mean you don't _know_?"

"I didn't really think about it." He shrugs as he rubs at the back of his head. "Can I go now?"

"Hey, Soul?"

"… _Yeah_?"

"You two have a lot in common, you know? Reserved, calm, aloof… It's true that opposites attract _but_…"

Soul blushes lightly as his eyes widen and his mouth parts. He coughs into his fist, interrupting her thoughts. Shaking off his flustered state, he successfully managed to sound harsh and uncaring. "_Uh-huh. _That sounds nice." Soul was never one to open up to anyone whether it was personal or not.

Maka put up her feet unto the table as she polished the apple on her sleeve. "… You're _definitely_ no romantic."

"I'll be in my room if you need me." He stands under the doorframe as he utters one last sentence to her. "Try _not_ to need me."

He shut the door behind him as Maka stared absently at the apple in her hand. She grumbles before sinking her teeth into it, taking a bite. "… Ugh, _bitter_."

* * *

"Hey, Kid, you got into trouble with your dad, huh?" Liz teased as Kid entered through his mansion gates. "Do you already know what your punishment is?" She was currently brushing a comb through her long hair. Patti was laid across the sofa, doodling on a sketch pad as she waggled her feet in the air.

"I'm not sure." Kid answered as he slipped off his signature coat. "I'll be finding out tomorrow."

"_Oh_, you didn't get it from him yet?" The stoic shinigami looks over at her confused before Liz changed the topic. "What happened at lunch?"

"You _saw _what happened." He tries to walk past her until she stops in front of him with her arms outstretched.

She puts an index finger to his forehead and taps teasingly. "Well, _yeah._ It was pretty damn loud with all the windows shattering and stuff. But _what _happened?" Liz then turns to the fridge with her arms on her waist, her hips swaying slightly with each step. She opens it up and takes out a canned soda, before throwing it to Kid who catches it immediately.

"… I'm _not_ thirsty." He grumbled before throwing it back.

"Suit yourself. You're going to be yelling an awful lot though…"

"Why, is there something wrong?" Kid grumbled tautly. _Is a portrait slightly off by a millimeter again? … Curses, where did I leave my measuring tape? I used it on the canvas last time… No, perhaps a ruler used for architectural purposes would be more handy, or maybe a – _

"KID!" She snaps her fingers, snapping his attention back toward her. Liz turns back to the counter as she herself prefers a drink. "Your dad's thinking of putting you and Soul through remedial lessons with Professor Stein for three months for all the damages…" She shakes her head in disagreement. "I don't know why he doesn't just force you guys to do community service or something."

Kid didn't hide his irritation. He scrunches his nose up as he blurts out: "Well. That sounds _horrible_…"

"Because of _Stein_, huh? It's with added tests too…" She bobs a shoulder. "For added _torture_, I guess?"

Kid smirks sure-of-himself as he waves a dismissive hand. "I'm a _shinigami_. Exams on the supernatural will be a piece of cake for me."

Liz groans as she faces the ceiling. Kid looks up as well. He didn't see anything particularly remarkable about its structure or its white gloss coating. "Well, since you're so confident, you don't have anything to worry about, do _you_?"

Kid smirked once more. "Yes."

"Cheeky brat…"

* * *

Soul slung his covers off his stomach as he awoke bitterly in the morning. He groans as he trails a tongue over his chapped lips; they were dry and mildly cracked. "Ugh…" He finishes up his morning routine: slabs on a messy amount of toothpaste as he goes over his teeth groggily. Standing over the sink, clutching the edges, he gargles loudly before he spits into the sink. He dozes off as he stares negligently at the running water travelling down the drain. Maka slaps him on the back off his head, awakening him fully.

"We're already late and you're watching toothpaste slide down the sink?"

The scythe wipes at his face hastily with plenty of soap and drapes a towel over his shoulder as he dries off his mouth and his cheeks. As he gets ready to leave, he scratches idly at the exposed midriff, his shirt raised up slightly. Soul gnaws repeatedly at the stiff toast before he slips on his jacket as well as his shoes. He stumbles out, hopping as he put on the heel of his right foot. His shark teeth are still tightly clenched around the soggy toast, the butter on it already dripped down to the ground below him. He glances around before lazily walking his way toward the academy. _I guess Maka left without me. _As he closes in on the enormous amount of stairs, he catches a glimpse of Kid and his entourage.

He tried to walk past him unnoticeably but Liz caught wind. She lightly pulls on both Patti and Kid as she matches her speed with the slightly rushing Soul. Kid makes a comment as he is simultaneously dragged by his weapon. "You seem eager to enter class."

"Yeah, _well_, we're already late." He grumbled. As the two entered the halls, they bumped into Professor Stein who seemed to be wandering around himself.

His glasses sparkled malevolently as he stared down at the shorter students. "Ah, there you boys are. Liz, Patti, why don't you two proceed to class?" Liz and Patti uncertainly nod as they huddle out. Stein faces the shinigami and the scythe abruptly as they flinch. "I see you two are trying to add further damage to your education."

Soul narrows his eyes. "And what's _this_ about, skipping your own class? Kind of sad if you ask me... Not that I really blame you_._" He shrugs. It wasn't like his life could get any worse with the already piled on amount of detention on his record.

The professor ignores his taunts as he grins. "As you've already heard, I'm supposed to give you remedial lessons for _quite _a while." He folds his arms as his face distorts to that of a negative one quite rapidly. "But I don't really _feel _like sitting there for so long _every_ day. Don't feel like proctoring you two while an exam goes on either. Not when I could be _dissecting_." He puts up a finger as his mouth quickly shifts into an awkward smile once more.

"… You're suggesting an alternative?" Soul looks up hopefully. Kid merely stood beside him, listening carefully.

"_Exactly_, I'll pass off all your hours if you bring me this one animal."

Kid grumbles. "It isn't in your power to just replace the hours with a safari hunt."

Soul groans. He hisses in the other's ear as his hand clasps around the back: "_Don't _question the dude_… _This is a_ good _thing, Kid." Kid closes his eyes irritably as he slaps the intruding hand away.

Stein smiles eerily once more. "_No_. But you two prefer this short mission over _half a year_ with me after school right?"

"Half a year?" Kid repeats. "Father requested only three."

"… Not if _I_ extend it. I can even do a _year_ if I want; _not_ that I would of course. BUT I _can._ Keep that in mind as you think over your choices." Stein suggested, extending a hand.

Kid challenges Stein's offer, much to Soul's distaste. He steps one foot forward as he grumbles proudly. "Oh? And just _how_ would you?"Unlike Soul, he didn't want easy ways out, not if they were unwarranted. Soul wanted just that, a simple short cut.

Stein hesitantly lowers the outstretched hand. "I'd _honestly_ tell Shinigami-sama by saying that you two frequently skip detention and I'd burn all the exams you did afterward." He bluntly stated as if he were uttering a perfectly just statement.

Kid merely twitched his eyes. "That would be a lie though."

Stein merely chuckled as Soul smacked himself in the face.

"_No _duh, Kid. He's threatening us." He puts a hand to Kid's shoulder as he himself offers up a thought. "A _century_ spent with a basket case, or a short search; what would be the _obvious_ choice, Kid?" Soul bumps a sharp elbow into the shinigami's side, his tone bleeding sarcasm and irritation.

Kid narrows his eyes as he looks on, seething in repugnance. "I _refuse_ to help a man that's willing to blackmail his students as well as dissecting a harmless animal."

"I don't know if you'd call it _harmless_." Stein corrects as he chuckles.

Soul prods at Kid once more as he glares at him with bloody eyes. Kid seemed firm in his statement and looked off in indifference.

Stein grumbles, "I guess I do have to make it a _year_. Oh well, it'll be fine doing some experiments on two _human _subjects as well… I've _always _wanted to dissect a shinigami, excluding Shinigami-sama, of course." He laughed merrily as thunder and lightning clapped dramatically from behind him.

Kid looks back at Soul, who urges him on with crooked eyes. He compliantly shrugs, a bit peeved at giving in. "_Fine_, if we get caught though, I had _nothing _to do with this." Soul seemed okay with that. "What's the animal?"

The lightning and thunder halt abruptly as it's replaced with rainbows and skipping penguins. Stein seemed abnormally in high spirits. "Ah, good to hear you two are interested. It's supposedly located in Australia, Tasmania, or New Guinea."

The duo meets eyes once more suspiciously. "Uh… Which one do we go to?"

Stein smiles, "I _don't_ know."

"…" Soul massages the back of his neck. "… Just what animal are you referring to?"

"The Thylacine." He chuckles as he makes a sweeping motion with his arms. His glasses are seen sparkling exuberantly in bliss.

The scythe looks over to the 'all-knowing' shinigami. "I never heard of it." He answers honestly. Neither of the two had a clue. Kid fesses up, "And the thylacine is of what species, exactly?"

"… It's basically the Tasmanian tiger. A carnivorous marsupial."

Soul raises an eyebrow. "Uh, sorry to burst your bubble, but that's a cartoon character." Stein chuckles as Kid smirks. Soul, not detecting the humorous faces Stein made as he held in a chuckle, continued: "As in it's _fictional_." He emphasized the last word as Stein burst into a small fit of laughter.

Kid corrects him, "No, the Tasmanian _tiger_; although, it's as ludicrous as the idea of the cartoony Tasmanian devil since it's _already_ extinct."

"It's _supposedly_ extinct_._" Stein wagged a finger in disagreement. "I managed to bag a bunch of endangered animals before and a few of those _supposedly _extinct… But I think in all fairness, people just aren't looking hard enough. _All_ misconceptions, if I may so boldly state."

Soul looks curiously at him. "Then shouldn't you be rich or something for the discovery of the last in a dying species, if you did manage to bag an extinct animal?"

Stein cocks his head. "_Oh_, they're extinct _NOW_." His eyes glimmer darkly behind his glasses as his mouth warps into an even creepier version of his initial smile.

Soul's mouth curls in disgust. _PETA's number one enemy; so fucking messed up in so many ways…_

Kid's eyes twitch as he stares on loathingly. "… You expect us to bring you back an animal of an extinct –"

"– _Supposedly _extinct." Stein intervenes.

Looking a bit annoyed, Kid continues. "–An animal of a _supposedly _extinct species… So you can _dissect _it for _fun_?"

"No, of course not!" He thunders as Soul almost falls back in surprise. "You see, the former experiments that I've conducted were _minor _errors in calculation. I don't _want_ them to become extinct…"

Kid and Soul's faces noticeably relax in mild relief.

Stein continues: "_Otherwise_, what will I dissect?"

Soul narrows his eyes. "_That's _your reason?"

"Then what would you do if we did manage to bring it back?" Kid asked curiously.

"… I'll be running tests on it… Cloning it maybe? A tiger/wolf/marsupial hybrid sounds interesting, doesn't it?"

Kid and Soul don't reply.

"Now, _now_, I've told you the places… You can go look for them later. I'll be excusing you two for a period of three days starting _tomorrow_, sound fair?" Stein asked. Soul and Kid were about to shake their head 'no' when Stein continued. "Good, three consecutive days it will be. Report back to me whenever." Soul seemed eager to leave before Stein beckoned the two toward class. "Don't think you can just skip _my _class. Come."

_Great… _Soul blubbered.

Kid tentatively walked along as his eyes continued to turn over to a poster nearby. _I think it's off by a centimeter from the center…_

* * *

After school, Kid told Liz and Patti about the plan, expecting to take them along as weapons; the Thompson sisters, being former muggers on the street, didn't seem to mind much at Stein's apparent blackmail/proposition. Patti gave him an enthusiastic grin on the 'adventure' as Liz merely griped. "And just _where _would we start out? He gave you three _different_ locations."

Kid put the side of his hand to his chin. "All I know is that they prefer living in dry eucalyptus forests, wetlands, and grasslands." He didn't seem deterred at the idea of the three locations being full of places covered in such environmental states.

Liz put her nails to her scalp in complaint. "Ugh… I _hate_ dry places and those murky swamps… My skin's probably going to chip off by the pounds and I'll probably be sloshing my boots around in dirty mud water…" Despite that, Liz was still planning to accompany him out of pure loyalty, but it all changed when Patti spoke up.

"Creepy swamp hermits give us rides through swamps… And when people least expect it… SNAP!" Liz jumps a little at the unexpected crunching sound coming out from her little sister's mouth. She gargles and pseudo-gags enthusiastically as she put her hands in the air. "- We're fed to a pet crocodile named Pocky!"

Liz widens her eyes in terror.

Kid merely makes an exasperated face. "That's ridiculous..."

Patti softly whispers, "… And maybe an alligator named _Charles_… The _Fifth._" She giggles childishly as she clapped her hands together in amusement.

Liz shuddered in disgust. "Why don't you take _only_ Patti? Leave me out of this one."

Kid hastily shakes his head 'no.' "I _have_ to be balanced on the left _and _right if I want to use any weapons at all." He protested, not too fond on the idea of using a single weapon. "I mean, there's symmetry to wielding you two, isn't there?"

Liz curled her nails into her palm. _You don't HAVE to, you just prefer it that way, you rich brat… _

Patti giggled as she chanted: "Safari hunt, safari hunt!"

Liz made a small, displeased squeal. "… _Patti_, stop it…" The girl, as tough as she was, was a sucker for scary stories and general fears. "Ugh, _damn_ it, I don't want to become alligator munchies..." She felt little goose bumps travel down from her shoulders to her wrists as she shivered accordingly. _Imagine all the teeth… _

Kid made no comment as he crossed his arms.

Patti intervened: "… Don't forget crocodile…"

* * *

Soul, on the contrary, wouldn't tell Maka for the world. The girl always upheld a strong sense of honor and justice, and she didn't like it when students took the unfair, comfortable way out of a proper instruction. Soul liked the easy, lazy, and short way out of things, and was pretty comfortable with 'cheating' as Maka so called it.

The scythe would be taking the trip without his meister, accompanied only by a brutal perfectionist and his entourage.

* * *

Soul woke up in the morning like any other day as he glanced over to the clock with a lazy eye. The _snooze _button was slightly dented from Soul's recurring presses. _I guess Kid's already expecting me to be ready… _He smacks his lips as he throws back his covers and proceeds to the bathroom. As he locks it behind him to get ready for a morning shower, Maka can be heard knocking and calling from the other side. Soul ignores it as he strips down and enters the bath. He's turning the squeaky faucets when Maka continues to knock. "Hey, a guy needs privacy in the bathroom..." He tests the temperature of the water before shifting it up to the spray nozzle positioned above his head. He sighs when the warm water beats down therapeutically on his aching, throbbing back. _I never did sleep in comfortable positions… Stupid morning cramps._

"_Hey_! You have a visitor!" She yelled as she continued to knock.

"Then open the door!" Soul yelled back. He stuck out his dry tongue and chapped lips under the shower, facing upright at it. Water began to fill into his cheeks as he lightly gargled over his dehydrated and groggy throat.

"… It's Kid!" Maka shouted and Soul simultaneously spit out the water.

"W-what the _fuck_, _KID_?" _Why's he HERE? Damn it, he's going to make Maka suspicious! Or worse, he's going to make her 'suspicious'!_

"Er… I don't know if I should let him in or not… He's just waiting by the door, ringing it over and over." Maka mumbled. "… Why's he _here_ of all places? Especially so early, requesting your _company_?" She asked, her tone taking a more suggestive tone. Soul heard her suppress the giggle even under the running water.

_She's having fun messing with me right now. _Soul scowls. _Stupid Kid, he just had to phrase it like that, didn't he? _Soul hastily shampoos his hair, washes it out inadequately, and proceeds out with a bathrobe on, tied loosely at his waist. "I'll talk to him."

Maka stares blankly at his current wear, before sneering complacently. "Oh, _of course _you are." She suppresses another snort before walking into her room and closing the door behind her.

Soul stares down at his dripping feet before further tightening the belt around him. _What was that about? _As he walks to the front door, he can hear the doorbell continue to ring. He peers through the peek-hole. "Son of a bitch, it _is _Kid." He opens the door halfway as Kid glares openly at him. "Yeah?" He asks nonchalantly, a little cold in his present status.

"… We were supposed to get a head start, Soul." He hissed. Liz and Patti can be seen standing a bit further away, the former checking her nails and the latter playing with a branch and some ants.

Soul glances around, his eyes sweeping left to right. "… I know." He bolts out a hand and clutches Kid by the necktie.

The shinigami's heel was slightly hovering by a centimeter from the upward hold. He maintains his balance with the tip of his toes.

Soul whispers into his ear in a cautious tone: "_Look_, Maka's getting suspicious; she can't know or she'll bust us out. _You_, the stoic shinigami who's supposed to hate my guts, being _here_, standing at my porch, isn't exactly helping causes…"

Patti and Liz look off in confusion. From an angle, it looked like Soul was nibbling on Kid's ear or kissing him on the cheek. The fact that Soul was dripping wet from just being out of the shower made it even more suggestive than needed.

Kid winces as Soul's hot breath starts to steam up over the tip of his ear. The scythe's drenched locks continue to graze at his cheeks, wetting them lightly with the tips. His breath hitches slightly as does Soul's. _This is far too close for comfort… _

Kid' reddening cheeks would have been considered as blushing by unaware spectators… If it wasn't for the fact that Soul also had him in a near-lethal chokehold from his tie and he was running sort of thin on needed air. However, he doesn't fight back the hold as he carefully slipped a precautionary hand over Soul's forearm, lest things got hostile. _I could always break it if things got bad… _The shinigami continues to listen with an eerie eloquence as the other's grip loosens.

Catching his breath, Soul continued: "… In fact, it's dragging _more_ attention toward us, _got_ it?" He lets go as Kid instantaneously fixes his tie with a scowl.

The shinigami clears his throat professionally. "… It's too late now. We're already here…" Soul makes a blank, 'Well, duh' expression. "… Are you ready?"

The scythe breathes out slowly and calmly. His lazy tone is back as he answers. "Give me a minute then."

Kid walks back to Patti and Liz as he rubs at the side of his neck with his palm. It was still wet.

* * *

As Soul dresses in his room, his meister can be heard impatiently knocking on the door once more. "I'm going to leave without you, you know!"

"Maka, don't expect me to be at school for a while." Soul grumbled as he began to slip on his clothes.

"Huh?" Maka's smile immediately turns into a frown. "You're ditching _again_?"

"It's for punishment. I'm going to be doing some community service around the area. Clean up some streets, feed some hobos."

Maka leans unto the door as she taps on her chin, "… And you're going with Kid?"

He nips the tip of his tongue and hisses for that reason. "No."

Soul had hoped she'd left, but she drawled on. "… Then why's he here?" She enunciates each question in disbelief.

Soul gnaws on the soft flesh at the inside of his mouth. He felt a little bit of his blood trickle out. _Tastes like iron and tomatoes. _"He just wanted me to return his homework from the other day."

"_That's_… Weird… He's not getting the same punishment as you?"

Soul had already lied, and changing his mind would've sounded suspicious. "Erg, no… His dad's the head of the school, remember?" _Phew, that sounded good._

"… Okay." Maka sounded skeptical but she left anyway. "Have fun." He heard her steps receding and sighed in relief.

_That was close. _He slips on his sweater before glancing out the window, holding the curtains up with the space between his thumb and his index. Kid was waiting, leaning on a pole while tapping his fingers over his sides impatiently. Patti and Liz greeted Maka who was just leaving through the front door. She walks into view as she momentarily chatted with Patti, Liz, and the shinigami. _Huh, I hope they don't give anything away… Kid and Patti can be pretty oblivious sometimes. _Maka does a light bow in farewell as she continues to walk down the street. All of a sudden, she peers up at Soul's window and he instantaneously lunges back from her view. "What the hell? _Did_… Did she see me?" His chest heaves up and down lightly as he wonders if their eyes had met.

Maka smirked before turning her head forward. She continued to walk in a leisurely pace with an introspective smile splayed across her thin lips. _Figures._

* * *

Soul makes his way out when he is completely sure Maka had left. _That girl can be pretty sneaky… _He peers around calmly from side to side before clacking the door entirely open and stepping out. Kid bobs his head up in acknowledgement. Soul skips right to the point. "So where do you think is the safest bet?"

"… I'm not sure, however Stein managed to hand me some maps marked with possible sites." Soul saunters over as Kid places a thoroughly marked map unto his hand.

"… It's littered with descriptive indications. I don't know why he's making us go when he himself put so much study into it." The scythe scratches his head warily.

"… He can't just skip class; he's the teacher. Obviously, he's _using_ us since the two of you are famous for skipping classes, alongside Black*Star." Liz stated.

Soul shrugs. "I don't know whether to be happy we get a little treasure hunt over a three month course, or pissed that he's making us do the dirty work for him."

Liz scoffs. "I reckon it's _both_."

Patti stares blankly at the three conversing.

Kid sulks at the thought of doing grunt work for a deranged, not-above-blackmailing professor. Soul taps him on the shoulder. "At least we get an easy way out, Kid."

His expression relaxes back into his indifferent one. "We should get moving."

"Dude, do we even have a ride? Australia is southwest from here. … Overseas."

"… I have a skateboard."

Soul gives him a dull look. "That is by far _the_ dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"… I have a _hovering _skateboard."

* * *

The first coordinate they went to was an epic fail as Soul had accidentally slid off due to the limited space on the skateboard. They spent a near millennium searching for an unconscious Soul in a eucalyptus forest. When they _did _find him, he had been lying unconscious over soft grass after, apparently, smashing down fifteen consecutive branches on his drop. _That was NOT cool… _was the first thing Soul uttered as soon as they shook him awake from his stupor. Soul and Kid glared daggers at each other for most of the search, putting knives at each other's throats in a silent war. However, Liz was happy since it bore no resemblance to what Patti had initially described as wetlands. Their happiness didn't last, as Soul and Kid had gotten them lost after blindly walking in circles. They managed to leave when Kid finally acknowledged the existence of his levitating skateboard that would provide them with a clear, aerial view. They left soon after.

At the second coordinate, Soul had decided to change into scythe form for the majority of the ride. Assuming that Kid and his wavelength would be at dangerous odds, he decided to hook his pointy tip unto the edge of the skateboard, much to the shinigami's annoyance. Liz and Patti, in gun forms, were settled into Kid's hands as always. When they finally got off, they once again, got lost in the vast and open plains of the grassland. This time, it was primarily Kid's fault, as he had decided to follow the line of the scarce trees that existed in the vast prairie. They eventually couldn't decipher any significant differences between the area they had already travelled over and the area they had yet to encounter, so they gave up once more, moving on to the next sloppy circle marked on their map.

* * *

Patti, Liz, and Soul travel over to their third destination successfully, much to the last's astonishment, landing in another one of the vaguely marked coordinates of the maps. The three weapons change back into human form, stretching after they do so.

"Ugh, being in weapon form too long give me hour long cramps…" Liz groans as she stretches her legs.

"No kidding." Soul cracks a shoulder by rolling it. "Maka _never_ made me stay in this form for so long…"

"Whatever." Kid grumbles.

Liz smirked. _Jealous much? _The shinigami immediately peered around at his surroundings and Liz herself checked out the area. They were on dry land then, but the area was a disgusting, brown-green colored swamp, much to her horror. "This crap is fresh water?"

Soul grumbles, his shoulders tensed up at a disturbing revelation. "If that's so, that means some of our water bottles are being purified out of this kind of gunk."

"Oh, God… It's _just_ like in those open wild, horror flicks…" She moaned. This was the very moment she was dreading, and as soon as she had grown accustomed to their 'travel here and get lost somewhere over there' pattern, she wasn't so sure if she ever _wanted _to get lost in such a place. As Kid approached the edge of the grime and fungi that gathered from the ends of the swamp water, it started to bubble and stain the tips of his shoes. "… That's really _gross_… Patti!" She immediately changes into weapon form, settling into her little sister's hands, who in turn, immediately wrapped her delicate hand over the grip. Patti nodded in assurance as her finger slipped into the trigger. Out from the gun's chambers, the elder's whimpers echo: "I'm not walking over _that_. I'll stay like this for now, Kid."

The shinigami nods silently as he inspects the area. It was a foggy swamp, most of its details vague as distance increased. The willow trees (?) had their branches and leaves sagging pitifully into the murky water; everything about the area seemed disheartening.

Patti, still clutching the gun, walked over to the edge of the water. She bends down on her knees as she stares wide-eyed at the shallow ponds that gathered beside them. Her heels began to sink in.

"I feel a disturbance in the force, man…" Soul groaned as Kid began to walk into the water.

"C'mon… Let's get going."

"Whoa, whoa, do you even _know_ where to start? I don't want to repeat that same crap in the forest and the plains."

"It's _fine._" Kid growled. "_Every_ living creature has a soul. We'll track the animal down that way."

"… There are a _lot _of living creatures in this place. Besides, they meant living _human_ creatures..." Soul countered. Satisfied with Kid's silence, he crosses his arms proudly.

"… Then I don't really know where to go…" The shinigami plainly answered. Patti and Soul merely stare blankly.

* * *

The three slosh their boots around in the swamp as Soul is unenthusiastically chanting after the thylacine. Patti and Kid are bored, rigidly glancing around at the familiar structures of the drooping trees. They walk at a leisurely pace as Soul walks in a more quickened one. "Hey, kitty, kitty, kitty… Fresh meat here…"

"… They don't eat people." Kid grumbled as Soul shot him a dirty look. "… And they're not cats."

Soul grumbles as he continues to call after it. The three walk around for three hours, delving into the very deeps of the swamp. He finally decides to break from his chant, voice croaky and exhausted. "… How come we haven't come across a _single _living thing?"

"… Probably because we're trespassing." Kid answered nonchalantly.

"No, I mean there hasn't even been one animal that passed by us…"

Kid stops walking, the water sloshing around him quietly before the currents go deaf once more. He closes his eyes as he hones in on the sound with his ears. "… I feel a witch's soul nearby…"

"A _soul_?" Liz voice echoed. Kid blocks off the muzzle of the gun as he shushes her.

"… She's stalking us… I can't tell from which direction…" He whispered. A series of rapidly repeated guttural cough-like barks emitted throughout. "What was _that_?"

"… And just when I thought my day couldn't get any better…" Soul laughed quietly to himself; his tone twisted and sarcastic.

"We have to be quiet…" Liz hissed out as Kid removed his hand. A long and whining cry could be heard as well as snuffling noises.

Patti nods, fingering the trigger. "Yeah, we got to be – DID'JA SEE SOMETHING MOVE OVER THERE?" She hurriedly runs over to a bush, inspecting it as she enthusiastically pointed over the gun to the shaking bushes. Kid slaps himself in the forehead as Soul wordlessly watched the ruckus. She pulls out something from the insides of the twitching fungi. She stares at it deeply before standing up and putting it on top of Kid's hands.

He drops his clenched lips as the disgusting grime slides down his elbows. "Huh?" He mumbled as he flipped the murky, grey object over. "H-HUH?" His eyes twitched as he gazed into the hollow eyes of something that vaguely identified as a skull. "… This fleshy goo on the sides… It's…"

"… It's a human head." Patti ended his statement as Liz started to shriek from inside the gun chambers.

Kid quickly shushed them once more. "We can't give away our positions. We _can't_ be ambushed… Not by a witch."

Soul glances around as he feels the slight quivers of the mud shake from below him. _Where could she be? _They start to walk around, firmly set up in a battle stance as they start to scavenge the area. As they continue to walk down a straight path, they eventually reach a wide, open area of the swamp. It was unnaturally spacious, carved out like the ruins of a battlefield as all the trees were chopped down, firming a near perfect circle from overhead. The place is enraptured in thick fog, unable to see more than a foot ahead. _This fog isn't natural… _Soul's breathing hitches as they hear dim, peculiar moans from all directions.

Kid had enough of this game of cat and mouse. _She's toying with us… _"Patti, change into a gun – I –" His eyes widen in anger and shock as nobody but Soul is seen standing behind him. Kid stays stunned.

Soul, catching the distress in his eyes, shifts his head around, only to turn concerned when Patti no longer stood beside him. "She – She's gone." Soul grumbles, looking around uneasily. "She was _right_ next to me."

Kid's eyes turn dangerous and hostile as he stiffens. "… We have to find that witch _fast_…"

"… What's going on, Kid?" Soul squint his eyes as he tried to look past the fog.

"… She's still circling us… I –" His voice is interrupted as a malevolent cackle is heard.

"THERE!" Soul screamed as he grabbed unto Kid's shoulder and leapt off, flying toward the sound, propelling in the air as he effectively transformed into a scythe. He ends up tacking unto a standing figure, successfully piercing the sharp tip of the scythe into its skull. "I got her! H-huh?" Soul peers down at the figure from the blade of the scythe as he yells, "The fuck is _this_?" He stares face to face at a decaying gray face, resembling the odd, grey skull that Patti had handed to Kid moments before. It had no pupils and black spit continued to slather down its melted mouth. Soul groans in repulsion as small maggots gathered at its cheeks. He transforms back into human form as he kicks off the monster, landing into the waters behind. He skids down on the water and drenches his sleeves when he juts out his arms in support.

"Soul!" Kid called from an unknown distance.

The scythe answered back anxiously, "It's the undead!"

"She's _dead_?" He called back deafly.

Soul spits out, "Dumbass, we're going up against a necromancer!" He gets unto his feet as he pats his damp clothes and curses his fate. "Of all the things we could've encountered… Unicorns… Puppies… Giraffes. Damn it…" He sloshes his sneakers through the soft mud, his feet sinking deeply into the velvety, loose dirt underneath. "K-Kid, _hey_!" A strange force starts to pull him down as Soul struggles to pull his legs out. Kid dashes over, pushing aside the thickening, almost solidifying fog.

"Stop charging headfirst!" He grumbled as Soul continued to move about violently, slipping into the mud. "She's a necromancer!"

"That's what I said – UGH!" Soul is swept down violently as only his waist is above ground. He gurgles as the murky water is forced down his lungs ferociously. He starts to choke as he tries to catch his breath, his mouth barely above water as he pulls up. "H-hey, K-Kid!" He stutters as the disgusting liquid and the miscellaneous moss flow down his throat, passing through clenched teeth. His body is almost entirely underwater, only a hand extending out from the surface as a final cry for help.

Kid finally finds him, guided through the fog from the other's yells, and wraps two strong hands around the other's extended arm, pulling him up after thrashing his arm about in great effort. "Ugh… This isn't good… We're practically blind at this state…" He whacks at his back as Soul coughs up water, struggling on his knees over the dirt.

"… Y-yeah… We're at a big disadvantage… We're practically pwn'ed on spot." He wipes his mouth as he continues to cough violently. _That slop was worse than expired milk… _He coughs once. _... Not that I tried..._

"… We can't dispel her magic if we don't know where she is…" Kid and Soul were currently forced into tactless, close-quarters combat due to the absence of Kid's guns. He pulls up Soul to his feet. "… Watch my back and I'll cover you too." He whispers.

Soul merely nods as he soothes his aching throat. The two circle around the area as the cackles grow louder.

"_You won't find me… You'll never find me…_" The airy voice whispered, sounding in indiscernible directions. The sound started to pulsate violently into the inner core of the two's eardrums, echoing throughout their heads painfully.

Kid suddenly jumps over Soul's back in original, leap-frog fashion as he slams down a heel over a four-legged animal. It cries in gruesome pain as its skull crushes under impact. Kid lands unto his feet, ricocheting off the blow. "… Soul… It's the Tasmanian tiger…"

"W-what?" Soul grumbled as he started to slosh his drenched boots over to Kid. He glances down at the wounded animal twitching before the shinigami. After seconds of inspecting it, he sighs: "… I get what's going on now…"

"… The skull from before, the gray figure-thing; she sacrificed the souls of human to reanimate extinct animals." Kid whispered.

"_The beauty you killed just now is called a Thylacine… You know how it got extinct?_" Kid and Soul don't respond and merely listen, trying to hear for a clear coordinate of her exact location. "_They were hunted and shot to extinction…_" The same eerie voice whispered, pulsating through the waters of the swamp. Crocodiles begin to gather around Soul and Kid, snapping their jaws in hunger.

The shinigami also detects the hostility of more animals in their vicinity. "It's already been years since that happened. You're killing their children, not _them_." He hissed. His words fall on deaf ears.

"_These bastards don't deserve to live… I'll kill them all… I'll use all their souls and I'll make sure to resurrect all the 'extinct' animals..._" She cackles once more as Kid struggles to find her lavender soul amongst the madness. The scythe hesitantly strikes at the hostile crocodiles with his arm, transformed into a blade.

"Damn it!" Soul groaned as the crocodiles snapped for his legs. He jumps into the air, transforming into a scythe before Kid caught him in his hand. _Wait, what the fuck? _

"Don't attack. She'll just raise more." Kid warned. He could feel the witch growing tense at the recent kill. _These are human souls that were sacrificed…_

Soul merely stays in scythe form, surprised. _He – He caught me? _Kid pushes down the shaft of the scythe into the soft mud, whereas Soul growls in frustration. "Just whose side are you on?" He transforms back into human form, struggling once more to pull out his sunken foot. "Crap!"

Kid starts to dash ahead as he sees the faint glimmer of a purple witch soul from around. More indistinguishable undead four-legged animals continue to ram at him as Kid tries to fight back the strong shoves and hits. He gets his left arm bit on as he drives a swift kick over to the belly of an ambiguous dog-thing. He punches at the faint light, hoping to hit, before a frail hand weakly blocked at it. "… Gotcha." Kid smirked lightly as he started to maneuver all his punches and kicks over to one set direction. Most were misses, but he knew the limited hits were feeling like a ton of bricks to her as she groaned in agony. He lands a successful hook to her head, immediately wrenching back his arm as he prepared a spinning kick over to her waist. Once he lands the kick, halfway during mid-air, a strange force begins to pull at his body from all sides. "H-huh?"

Not before long, she shrieks an unholy, inhuman scream as she propels Kid backward with her soul wavelength. He splashes into the water as he also pulls down an unwilling Soul, settling comfortably unto his lap as the two falls back. Soul merely blubbered at the murky water splattering over his face as Kid's head comfortably leaned into the human cushion, the impact lessened on his part. The fog begins to noticeably fade as the gradually appearing figure of the witch starts to limp on spot. Soul groans. "At least we can see now…" He rubs at his aching head as he pulls up to his feet, letting Kid's head plop into the mud as a minor act of revenge. Kid was slightly muddled, a little bit of blood forming at the corner of his mouth. He wipes it off like nothing and gets to his feet, feeling a little drained.

Soul immediately takes the charge as he slides from the swallow water to knock the witch off her feet. She instead is shoved to the base of a tree, her back hitting violently against it as she struggles to keep up with the weakened support of a rotting branch. It breaks shortly after and she topples back, smashing her head against the bumpy surface of the trunk. Her green hair flips back as it whips across her on impact. She struggles to stay up, using her elbows to muster up some strength on her lower body. Soul, intent on not losing his chance, leaps forward, headfirst, as he immediately transforms into a scythe, attempting to strike her down. She expertly evades it, the scythe instead chucking into the wood of the tree. He groans jadedly. _Of course… _The scythe's blade was three-quarters into the trunk, gored in immovably deep.

She immediately charges her soul wavelength as she raises her arms up for the finishing blow, the critical impact that would kill Soul at once. She pants and her delivery is delayed, but Soul is unable to pull himself out of the base as he stays motionless in weapon form.

_This isn't how I want it to end… _Soul mumbled to himself as he relaxed under the blow. _I can't change into human form at this state… Then my arms will be buried into the tree. _He tenses up as he tries one final, dire attempt to push the blade out. It proves futile as her raised hand sweeps down to be only one foot away from his weapon form. He shuts his eyes tight, bracing under impact in his consciousness, until in due course, Kid pulled him out before the attack connected with his body.

The shinigami simultaneously smashes down on the witch's raised hand, as he kicks himself off the base of the tree, clutching the scythe securely in his hand.

The witch screeches in aggravation as she draws back her crushed hand. Kid dove back with a flip as he landed at least a good ten feet away from the witch. He faced the scythe he held in his left hand as he yelled at it. "You were going to _die_; why didn't you move?"

… _Weapons can't move in that state, jack-ass. _Soul stays quiet as he notices that ultimately, Kid was wielding effortlessly like Maka in his hand, swinging him around easily. _Black*Star couldn't even lift me, what makes you –? _"Kid, _you're_ –" Kid tenses reflexively as the witch dashed over in an enraged, fanatical state. He immediately twirls the scythe once before blocking the blow, palming the side of the blade with one hand, as he switched over the pole to his right in an instance. _Our souls are actually compatible? _Soul thought incredulously as Kid sustained an uninterrupted chain of counters against the witch's feeble blows.

Kid clicks his tongue as he withdraws over to the other side of the open ring. _She's slowly regaining her stamina… So much for that weakened state. _The witch suddenly roots up, branches and roots bearing her weight as she towered over the duo. Kid remains quiet as does Soul. The two spot Patti and Liz form at opposite ends of the mutated tree, the one the witch had summoned. "She actually has the nerve to use them as human shields..." She cackles hysterically as the wooden base of the tree liquefies into a strange black liquid, crawling over the surface of the murky waters. The goo spread frighteningly fast on ground. Kid jumps up and lands unto a branch of a nearby tree. Soul materializes back into his human form. The two sit crouching down over the creaking branch as the shinigami strategized. Soul merely analyzed the tree's structure, hoping to find a flaw.

The black ooze begins to crawl up over the bottom of the tree, forcing them to relocate to the next. "… What do we do now, Kid?" Kid doesn't verbally answer, choosing to show actions over words. He materializes his skateboard out of thin air before he hops on, grabbing Soul by the arm and pulling him on. Soul stares over to the slight advantage they had. _The black liquid's useless when we're floating… It can't reach us when we're not directly connected to the surface. _The tree they jumped off of is immediately enclosed in obsidian. The scythe glances down, easily seeing the weak point – the witch's head was left unwisely bare as she lounged at the very top of the tree, branches twirling in her proximity as she scavenged the area blindly for them – Her Achilles' heel was blatantly exposed for them to exploit. Soul catches the sharp look in Kid's eyes and smirks. _I see. _He transforms into a scythe as he willingly settles into the shinigami's hold. He twirls it behind himself three times, testing for balance, before settling the scythe once more in his left hand. Kid himself smirks before he swept down, flipping off his skateboard with a circling kick, head up and feet down as he held the scythe upright over his head, before retreating back and pulling out from the attack. In doing so, the witch detects his presence and whips him back violently with the branches, ripping apart his stomach's flesh. He falls into the black water, face-planting painfully. The scythe skidded across the water, opposite of Kid, slowly sinking down afterward. "Wait, _WHAT?_" Soul's voice echoed out from the blade as he transformed back into human form, shaking off the water that covered him head to toe. He slowly sloshes over to Kid, moving his legs in exaggerated motions as he struggled to catch speed. He starts whacking at Kid's back. "Why didn't you attack her?" He grumbled.

Kid pulled himself up barely, only to have his face smack down on its side once more. However, his mouth remained unobstructed by mud and he freely spoke in pained gasps as he clutched his open wounds. "I can't use you…"

"Huh?" was all Soul said.

"I can't fight _with_ you…" He grumbled, annoyed at having to repeat himself.

Soul looks off confused once more, before narrowing his eyes in realization. _Of all the times he could've chosen to bring this up... _Whenever Kid wielded Soul, despite how compatible their souls were with each other, the shinigami would always be lopsided, weighed down more on the side he chose to carry the scythe with, or still being asymmetrical despite using two hands (one hand would always be lower than the other when clutching it two-handedly). Wielding Soul destroyed the left to right symmetry Kid established when paired with Patti and Liz or in hand to hand combat."In case you didn't realize, we're getting our asses kicked and handed back to us on a silver platter. … Now's _really_ not the time."

Kid and Soul are slowly covered in the obsidian liquid as the latter protests, trying to fight it off. Kid merely stays deathly still. "I am asymmetrical scum if I wield you…"

The scythe feeling insulted and aggravated spits out: "Look, Kid, your hair already _kills_ your symmetry, now let's hurry and finish the bitch off while we're still alive and standing…" He grumbled as he points a thumb over to the mutant tree sluggishly approaching them. He was already half-painted with the black tentacles sticking to his every limb, intent on dragging him down.

Kid doesn't budge.

Soul is unable to utter another word as he is swallowed up into the bottom, along with the shinigami, who doesn't put up much of a fight. After being dragged down a substantial amount, Soul attempts to transform into weapon form, struggling to keep his focus as his lungs run out of oxygen. _How – How did it get so deep?_ He begins to slide into the murky water, being dragged in further as he reaches out an arm, hoping to hook it on to something. He successfully transforms his arm into a scythe, slicing off parts of the obsidian tentacles, as he kicks himself free from the rest. He swims up to the top as he struggles to look for the shinigami meister with the murky water staining his eyes. "KID!" After a couple more screams, he dives back down, trying to look through the depths of the swamp.

Kid's eyes go dim and black as his mouth is left wide open for the murky water to force itself in, directly to his lungs. Soul gurgles as he attempts to swim himself through the thick, transparent, moving water. _Damn you, don't die on me like this! _He lunges out an arm, catching the other's sleeve as he propels them upward.

Kid's arm instinctively wrapped around Soul's in a sturdy hold as he blinked his eyes momentarily. _Soul? _He knocks out once more as more water is breathed into his lungs automatically. _A-air…_

When they manage to reach the surface, the scythe sighs in relief, seeing that the witch was at the very opposite side of the circular arena, still searching for them in vain. The once, ocean-like, deep water begins to recede, Soul once again able to feel the bottom of the shallow, muddy water as the black liquids shift over frantically to the area the witch currently inspected. "Hey…" He coughs out in relief, calling after the other as he begins to slap the unconscious shinigami. After repetitive, near-abusive hits to the back, Kid finally comes to as he expels out the foreign gunk of water, wetting the corner of Soul's mouth (sadly enough) as he releases air through his windpipe and mouth sharply and noisily. The scythe smacks his lips in disgust at the taste that remained. _I don't even want to know what the stuff lingering in my mouth is… _"Ah, Kid…" The shinigami was still unconscious as he continued to breathe longingly (his lungs being in desperate need of it) and floated over the shallow water comfortably on his back. "Damn it… _Look_, if you can hear me, you _stupid, rich, bratty, symmetry-obsessed freak," _Soul muttered, feeling a little more content after venting. "Then know this… You're a _shinigami_. Your weapons are going to die and so are we. Now get the hell over yourself and let's fight…" He hissed, but Kid remained in the same state as always. As a last resort, Soul whispered into his ear: "… Kid, look at the tree. It's _asymmetrical_."

Kid's eyes pop open as he peers over in hysterics at the dreaded word.

_Bingo._

"It's –" The shinigami analyzes it from left to right, his eyes shifting madly from side to side like a rabid branches on the left were much thicker in magnitude as well as drastically less in amount than the right. The left side also glows a redder hue, uneven with the darker, brown hue of the right. Worst of all, the base of the tree in which Patti and Liz were suspended from, was off by at least a recognizable foot, Patti being placed in a lopsided, lower position than her elder sister. "– IT'S _DISGUSTING_!"

Soul sneers. _There you go. _"Now why don't we teach that asymmetrical motherfucker a lesson?"

Kid's eyes twitch neurotically as the passionate, golden hue returns. "I've – I've never seen something so _messed up_ in my life! What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" Kid screamed at her, lunging out an arm to signal Soul. Hearing the ruckus, the tree turns around slowly, the witch growing alarmed as she saw the shinigami seethe in anger, boiling the water around him. Soul smirked one last time, making a cut-throat motion, before transforming into a scythe and settling between the shinigami's ringed fingers. Kid bends his knees, preparing a battle stance as he clutches Soul behind him, holding the blade away from his body. He beckoned the witch over in a sadistic, hateful glare. "_Worthless_."

The witch immediately charges toward the shinigami after hearing his demeaning taunt, her arms outstretched as the branches mimicked her action in its lethal glory.

Kid doesn't even bother to charge as he walks up calmly, Soul still held weightlessly behind him, twirled between his fingers and his thumb in even, spherical motions as he slices the surface of the water with unequal speed. With the third spin, he digs down the tip of the scythe deeper in the water, making a beautiful, circular splash that encircles him. As the tree approaches, momentarily distracted with her gaze following the rim of the circular splash, he dashes forward, ramming the scythe through the middle of the tree, switching holds to his right hand a millisecond before and slicing it vertically up, splitting it into perfect halves.

Patti and Liz topple to the murky water motionlessly when the branches lose their grip. The witch shrieked in blood-curdling anguish as she clutched at her seemingly unaffected head.

Kid stands the scythe upright, perpendicular with the ground, as Soul changes back into human form, standing beside his temporary meister. Soul chuckled, "We make quite the pair, don't we?" He extends a hand to high-five with.

Kid looks off in mild puzzlement before smirking, "_Exact_ and perfect." Both their hands connect with a soft whack as they wrap their fingers around each other in a light embrace; an unusual form of attachment and devotion now harbored between the two.

The mutant tree disintegrates, its branches rotting in quick-time as color unmistakably restored into their backdrop. Soul and Kid lightly high five in mid-air as they land safely beside an unconscious Patti and Liz, the two twitching lightly at the contact of cold water. The black liquid dissipates as the water turns into a more natural teal color; algae still floated over its surface but the area seemed much more approachable now. Light begins to shine through as a beautiful, cloudless blue sky is revealed from the diminishing fog. The trees, instead of sagging woefully, looked more vibrant, its branches intertwining with each other so that sunlight flowed through more elegantly. The hostile mud that sucked their feet in like quicksand felt soft and spongy as smooth layers sank underfoot.

Soul looked off in mild awe as Kid helped a recovering Patti and Liz to their feet. "Oh, God… What happened?" Liz groaned, before her eyes widened at the stained clothes. "UGGHHH!" She started to pat away the velvety mud that clung to her drenched clothing as well as wringing out large traces of algae in her dirtied hair. Patti merely cradled an unknown animal in her hands, oblivious to the fungi that covered her from head to toe.

"Sis', look!" She giggled before putting a swamp toad to her elder sister's cheek. Kid merely narrowed his eyes at the recurring screams of Liz as Patti continued to harass her with the dry, warty skin of the amphibian. Soul merely chuckled wryly.

Kid suddenly turned his attention away as he walked over to the witch corpse that floated over the water. Her eyes merely showed whites as her body slowly yielded to the weight of the water. As the emerald haired woman began to sink, Kid instinctively wrenched out his arms to catch her until she completely dissolved into water, blending in with the very environment she had so maniacally attempted to better. He sat crouching quietly as he inspected the purple soul that floated in her spot. "Soul." He called and the scythe walked over, stretching his neck idly as he did so. Kid scooped up the soul from over the water and as a rare act of sincere kindness, put it to Soul's hands.

Soul wordlessly blushed, unaware on how to react, "Thanks, I guess…" He pauses as he closes his eyes. "_But_, nah." He put it back in Kid's hands, relishing a bit on the contact of cold, porcelain skin. He curls the shinigami's fingers over the soul. "… You deserve it. Besides, Maka will notice if I absorb a witch's soul." His fingers trace over the other's palm almost intimately before he hastily withdraws them. Soul murmurs uncertainly, sounding as if he had been holding his breath for quite a while. "I… _Appreciate_ the gesture though…" _Ah, that sounded un-cool… _Soul's distant, twisted heart felt unnaturally warm.

The shinigami stares blankly at the heat that still lingered over his knuckles from the scythe's touch. _Maka, huh?_ Kid's face remained cold and expressionless as he answered, "Suit yourself." He utilizes his _konso_ as he stores the soul in his body for later usage. He absently pats his suit dry as an awkward silence envelops the two.

"_Hey_, you know… I expected you to be on the very bottom of my list for possible, compatible meisters… But what you did there was pretty bad-ass." Soul added coolly, sneering lightly at the guy.

Kid smiled slowly, small, imperceptible indents raised at the corners of his mouth. He took in the compliment briskly before losing face just as fast, his indifferent face abruptly returned once more. "… I _just_ noticed…"

"Yeah?" Soul answers fondly, holding a new, sort of admirable respect for the other.

"… You know how I sliced her down the middle?"

Soul is a bit taken aback, a little surprised at the mild show of arrogance in the usually self-doubting, insecure (about his asymmetrical hair, at least) personality. _Eh, I guess he deserves to rub it in a little. Modesty's overrated anyway. _"Yeah, you were pretty cool, Kid." He complimented him nonchalantly as he patted the other on the shoulder.

Kid nods unsurely. "Yes, but…"

"Huh?"

"… Do you think I was off by two centimeters to the right from the center?"

"…"

* * *

Patti and Liz, Soul and Kid managed to cool their heads at each other as they pondered on what to do next. The four sat in a perfect circle (as Kid had wanted), their backs turned against each other.

Liz muttered, "_So_? What now? Do we go home empty-handed?"

Kid could notice the hazy, blue glows from nearby, hiding timidly behind trees. "… There's the case of what to do with these animals."

Soul sighs. "As much as I loved saving wildlife, what do we do about Stein? You killed the only thely – thela – thelyra –" He pauses in mild frustration. "The only Tasmanian tiger that she resurrected… We're still getting three months, or six, after all of this…"

Kid pondered as he put his fingers to his chin. "I don't think that's it. I still see the human souls linger around here."

Soul leaned into Kid's back. "… The animals… They're corpses, empty shells reanimated by the death of a human," he murmured darkly.

Patti walks over from one of the bushes, hopping around happily, and mud still covering her from head to toe.

"When did _you_ get up?" Liz asked as she patted the empty seat from behind her.

"Look!" She laughed as she put the thylacine unto Kid's lap.

Kid stared over gloomily. "It has a human soul… In a way, the humans were reincarnated into an animal." He said, contrasting with Soul's bleak and negative point from earlier on. He started to pet the tame animal, before picking it up and noticing that one of the stripes on its back was lopsided. He bitterly passes it over to Soul. The scythe idly pets it over its head as he himself saw the life and beauty within the carnivorous marsupial's eyes. As they continued to sit, stinky and in a dire need of a bath from the gunk that covered them, they reached an eye-opener with the next phrase uttered from the unlikeliest source.

Patti giggled as she put her hands behind her. "Witch lady messed with Mother Nature so let's not mess with Mother Nature!" She cheered, throwing her fists up in the air. Liz herself laughed along with her sister as she also gave in with a light cheer.

Soul and Death the Kid stared blankly before their face relaxed into a near-smile.

* * *

At long last, when the journey seemed to come to an end, Soul and Kid faced remedial classes with a very displeased Stein for a total of three months (luckily, he didn't lengthen it).

Soul half-frowned and Kid half-smiled.

... Neither really seemed to mind.

* * *

Read and review, people, read and review! XD

Next chapter will include their first 'date'! (MORE FLUFF) Here's a quick summary:

As Soul and Kid face the dreaded exams that Stein bombards them with in the remedial classes, the scythe manages to casually ask the shinigami about setting up some study sessions together. However, seeing them around town at restaurants, at each other's houses: supposedly 'studying together', can _easily _be mistaken as something _entirely _different in curious eyes.


	6. First Date

**CollosiAteMySocks**– I am _extremely_ flattered that you liked this story so much that you added me to your favorite authors' list. Much love to you and thank you for the review~ XD

**Ehri **– Love you a lot~ Thanks for the sexy drawings (and the icon, of course) ~ Oh, and you actually reviewed on every chapter! Thanks X3 (Ahem, review on this one too!)

**Sightlines **– Thank you very much! It makes me giddy (yes, I said _giddy_ *gasp*) to know that this is the first Soul Eater fan fiction you got into! That's really nice of you to say~

**Thank you for all the lovely compliments and critiques! **

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Here's Chapter Six – the _First_ "DATE!"

* * *

It was only the start of Professor Stein's remedial class exams, and already, Soul could easily admit that he was gaining genuine white hairs over his already colorless locks. They had already had one study session together (the three of them) and once more, Soul could admit that it was nothing but torment that fueled for quickening the corruption in coming generations. _Even Maka, the bookworm, would hate THIS kind of study session._

However, his confidence, at the time, vastly overshadowed his uncertainty.

When he first entered his room to self-study, he stretched once, then twice, confident and smug that he could do this. He pumps a fist over his desk as he flips open the packets and pulls out a mechanical pencil.

_This'll be a piece of cake – _

_

* * *

_

– _WRONG. _

Currently, he was seated over his cluttered desk as he started to wring the plastic lead pencil unconsciously. His body is rigid, hunched over tiny letters that refused to get absorbed into his head. He skimmed over the packets stacked in front of him; all nine of them handed out the same day. He had initially felt thankful when Stein was kind enough to give them study guides, telling them _exactly_ what to cram for. However, such gratitude shifted to that of a new-found hatred as he convinced himself he was staring into the very depths of hell. "_Piece of cake~_" He mumbled self-mockingly. "_Man_, was I wrong…"

He shakes the negative thoughts off as he maintains a calm face and flips the pages. _No… This is okay. I can do this. _He continues to flip as he browsed through the divided sections. The information was organized in a way that was purposely cluttered and confusing, written in true madman format. His eyebrow twitches twice when he reaches a dead pan at a muddled page.

The font was unreadable and worst of all – it had absolutely _no_ spaces; it was just an unending list of bizarre things he had to memorize.

His arms slide down violently as he looks over it with lifeless eyes. "_What_ the _hell_ – is _THIS_?" He groaned, ripping then throwing up the poorly outlined papers in frustration as he muffled obscenities that seemed to want to flow out every second. "_This_, this is _all _stuff he hasn't gone over yet!" Sighing, he leans back into his rolling chair, his arms stretched over the armrests edgily. He taps his fingers over and over before grumbling, "… Ugh, screw this." He gets up from his chair, picking up shredded papers that littered the floor. As he picks each individual piece up, he pauses abruptly, his frown eerily twisting into that of a disconcerting smirk. _Well, what do you know? _He slips the piece into the corner of his sleeve, testing the spot. _Hm, this is okay… Maybe I could try slipping it around the bottom rim of my headband too… _He takes out a scissor from a cluttered drawer before starting to cut out each of the paragraphs into small memos.

"Soul –" Maka's voice could be heard as footsteps increased in volume.

_Ah, crap. _"Wait, I'm in the middle of something!" He answered back as he attempted to shove all the slips of paper into an unseen corner underneath the desk.

"Huh? Are you still studying?"

He gulps down his anxiety. "Yeah… Leave me alone."

"… It's dinner time; Blair got us some fast food."

"… Uh, no thanks… I'm not really that hungry!"

"…" No reply.

"Phew… She's gone…"

All of a sudden, Maka rushed into the room, practically wrenching open the door. "Don't be silly, you _never_ refuse food, even more when it's free –" Her words are cut off as her smile distorts into that of fury.

Soul could only jump back in horror as he was caught red-handed with the little cheat sheets he had cut out. "Uh…"

Maka clenches then unclenches her fist as a vein pops out over her forehead. She exhales out her nose loudly like a bull with a red handkerchief blatantly waved over its face. "… _What_… Are… YOU… Doing?" She grumbled, cracking her knuckles while keeping her tone surprisingly calm.

_OH, SHIT. I should have locked the damn door._

_

* * *

_

First Exam.

Soul wasn't feeling too sure of himself as he made his way to his after-school remedial classes; his steps sounded hesitant and soft as they clacked over the marble halls. He just couldn't wipe the grimace off his face, his sharp teeth clenched together into a wide and gloomy looking frown.

The scythe had gotten the living crap beat out off him by the prudish and oh-so-honorable Maka for an entire duration of an hour. Having not slept a wink due to the excess pain that covered him head to toe (as well as not being served dinner as a bonus), he yawned vigorously as a partly apologetic Maka dragged him out of his bed in the morning and into school. As soon as he made it into his first class, he slammed down over the shared desks, sleeping with a contempt snore.

Now, he was fully recharged, his stamina restored after consecutive naps in class yet permanently discharged in morale. _Damn it… I'm going to fail…_

He cracks his knuckles before making his way into the room.

The classroom had its lights dimmed dramatically like that of a detective movie. There are only two desks in the lit center, one of them occupied by the shinigami. Kid was peering around resignedly as Stein rolled around on his chair in an unknown location of the room. "Now what took you so long?" The creepy professor asks, his glasses twinkling ominously in the dark.

Kid merely scoffs, "… You're _late_. You realize we're supposed to start at the same time, right?"

"Yeah, _yeah_, I'm ready," Soul replies jadedly before taking the only desk available – right next to the annoyed shinigami, who slipped out a fancy fountain pen. Soul pulls out a lead pencil from the rim of his headband before placing it down over the desk with another yawn.

After Stein passed out the tests and gave them the signal, Soul and Kid sit dazed, but for different reasons. Soul had no fucking clue what the first answer was; Kid was determined to write his name perfectly across the top. The shinigami growls: _I thought he'd give us a test with our name already printed out on top… _Kid looks over to Soul, Soul flinching back (he was looking at Kid's test just then). He calmly asks, "… Soul, do you have a pencil on you that I could borrow?"

"Uh… Sure?" _But isn't that a pen across your desk? _Soul slips out another pencil from the elastic of his headband and lightly sets it down over the other's outstretched palm, all while simultaneously attempting to catch another peek at the test. _W-what? He didn't start yet_… _What does he even need the pencil for? _Soul, in his short-lived glances, could only form drops of sweat at his brow at the odd view. Kid was scribbling thin assessment lines over the line for the heading. _You're kidding… We're taking a timed test and he's measuring out the spaces of his name? _A ruler snaps over the Soul's desk causing him to snap back his attention forward.

"Are you going to be starting anytime soon?" It was Stein.

Soul nods before filling in the first question with a random word. _Okay… Next one… _Slight pause. _W-what the hell is that supposed to mean? _Fills it in with yet another (educated?) guess. _On to the next one… _Pause. _Uhm… Ur… _After more hits and misses, Soul had just about enough. He peers up at the clock. _Alright, Stein said a limit of an hour per exam… I have… Seventeen minutes left and forty seven more questions (out of one hundred)… _He tried to look at the brighter side of things before his head flopped down in defeat. _AGH, I can't do this… _He peers over to Kid's paper once more. _C'mon, Kid, you're my only chance… _He tries to only move his eyes and keeps his neck rigid. _Stein will notice if I face toward him too much… _Luckily enough, just at that moment, Kid slid his paper up on his desk, giving Soul a clearer vantage point. _Ah man, I love you, Kid – _He sneers triumphantly before grabbing at his hair roots and muffling an obscenity. – _HE'S STILL ON HIS NAME?_

As Soul continued to fume over his paper and Kid's OCD, the shinigami was beginning to ink in the lines of "Death" on his paper. _Now, on to "the." Wait… NO… I think the bottom left portion of this line came out fatter. _He continues to compare the tops and bottoms, the lefts and rights of each individual line before furiously rubbing the eraser (of Soul's pencil) to a pathetic stub, clearing the paper of the messy reference etching. Minutes began to go by quickly... And Kid continued to scribble his name.

Leaned on his rolling chair, Stein taps his fingers idly at the rim, suggesting to Kid: "Why don't you fill in the answers first?" Kid continues to write in a beautiful, typed computer format, his calligraphy peerless in comparison. "… You don't have to put your name; you two are the _only_ ones taking this exam." Kid still continued on his heading. The professor merely muttered to himself, a bit peeved at being ignored by a student none the less.

Soul furrows his eyebrows as his eyes squint into straight slits. _Are you fucking serious? _He peers up at the clock a second time. _Oh brother, Kid… You're definitely one of a kind in my book… _Soul continues to fill in blanks with foolish and inaccurate terms. _Fifteen minutes… _

Kid began to hyperventilate as he heaved painfully over his paper, his heartstrings tugging violently at the monstrosity in front of him. _Why can't I ever get this right? Asymmetrical garbage… Asymmetrical – _The fountain pen's pointy nib unexpectedly snaps, dribbling violet ink all over his paper. "…" He stays dead still.

"…" Soul looks on expectantly. _Is… Is he done? _In Soul's momentary glances of curiosity, he sees Kid looking like a deer caught in headlights, his expression staying petrified for ten minutes. Out of nowhere, said deer unexpectedly collapses back, violently smashing his head against the ground as he started to excessively bleed from his mouth.

_WHAT – THE – _"K-Kid? KID?" Soul, concerned, gets out from his desk to help the other up.

Stein abruptly cut in, "_Five_ minutes, Soul."

The scythe, his sympathy lost, immediately sat back down before scrawling out random sentences in the rest of the blanks of the remaining free-response questions.

* * *

Soul had just finished bull-shitting his answers whilst the traumatized shinigami lied dead on the ground. The hour had flown by. Soul sits with his head-down on his desk defeated. _I so failed… _His fingers currently twitch at his sides as he waits for Stein to grade their exams. _Well, Kid definitely got a Fail seeing as how he didn't fill in a single question… _He peers over to the downed Kid pitiably, he sighs before rising up a hand and asking: "Hey, can I take him to the infirmary?"

Stein nods as he continues to read over the tests in scrutinizing fashion. "Make it quick. I'll be done grading in a sec."

Soul slid an arm under Kid, taking his left arm and perching it across his shoulders, dragging him by the side. When they finally make it toward the infirmary, Soul is seen heaving and groaning before he throws down the shinigami on the bed before collapsing to the side himself, "Who knew you were so heavy?" He loosens the neck of his sweater, before wiping at the sweat of his neck and forehead. Weary and frustrated, he gets up from his butt to swipe out the curtains and let the light shine in. It glows a red hue, matching the beautiful, burning sky of the sunset outside. "… Nice view." He glances around the pale white room one last time before scratching his head. _Nobody's even here... Great. Dragged him here for nothing._

He fools around with some of the papers and pencils on the nurse's table and circles around, before dejectedly sighing.

_This place is so empty and dull… Like some kind of prison where everyone broke out from. _Soul puts a finger to his chin. _Wait, that didn't make sense. _He sighs to himself. _So un-cool. _Soul grumbled as he slipped on some earphones. As he drowned himself out of the annoying scribbles, shuffles, and scratches of test-taking that was currently cemented into his brain, he found himself falling into another deep slumber over the bleached white walls of the infirmary. When he woke up, he found himself perched on the ground with his back uncomfortably burrowed into the wedge of the intersecting floor and wall. "How long was I out?" He peers up carelessly over the clock hanging on the wall before yawning and languidly getting up. _Thirty minutes._

The scythe glances back at the unconscious boy sprawled over the bed. "…" Soul's shoes lightly clack over to the edge of the white mattress before brushing the other's bangs to the side. The strands feel soft to the touch as he caresses a cheek then traces the neckline. _He doesn't look as neurotic when he's asleep… Almost approachable – Well, almost. _He twitches lightly and takes back his hand when he feels Kid flinch under him, only to see the shinigami stare back with narrowed eyes. _I didn't know I was putting my face so close… _His breath hitches at the thought as the shinigami speaks.

"… _What_ were you doing?" Kid asks, immediately sitting up at the rim with hostile eyes. His obsidian boots dangle momentarily before heftily clacking down on the floor. Disturbance and minor bits of paranoia are crept into his voice, sounding as if he was accusing Soul of homicide.

"Geez, you make it sound like I committed a crime…" Soul couldn't help but blush as he said so. _Man, what WAS I doing? _He, with no delay, forges a lie, "There was an eyelash to the left of your eye. It threw off your balance."

His facial expression drastically changes over the course of two seconds; Kid's eyes widen in cartoonish fashion, "IS IT OFF? Did you get it _off_?" His fingers frantically trace around his face as he kneads both cheeks raw.

"Yeah, _yeah_, it's off… Chill."

Kid stands up to double-check in the mirror.

Soul sighs. _Thank god he's OCD. _

"Soul," he calls, rubbing his chin inquisitively.

The scythe flinches when his name is called, "Uh, yeah? What's up?" He snaps his headband back on as he nervously settles his hands back into his pockets.

"Did Stein grade our exams yet?"

_Yours didn't have anything to grade. _"Naw, we should probably get back." _Seems like you're unfazed from the blood that flooded out your mouth moments before._

Kid looks baffled before glancing around, slowly gaining recognition of the area around him. He coughs into his fist, "… Hey, when did we get in the infirmary?"

"You don't remember?" _I mean, you smashed your head down on the floor…_

"… Hm, if I did, I wouldn't be imposing on you with such a question now, would I?" He murmurs sarcastically.

Soul clicks his tongue before waving him off dismissively, "Let's just go, man. Think he's done."

As they make it out of the hallway, Kid strikes up conversation once more to an unwilling Soul. "How do you think you did?"

"Ah, don't ask. My mood's already shot down the toilet; don't need it to get any worse…"

"Oh?" He perks up an eyebrow. "Why's that? Did something happen?"

"Not much."

"Hm, I see. Did you study at all?"

_I did until I attempted to cheat and got the shit beaten out of me instead. _He lied freely once more, "Yeah."

"You alright?"

He sighs roughly with a heavy "Alright."

"… Okay." Kid grumbles, shrugging, his interest further diminishing at the other's boring replies. His eyes are dull and his face is plastered with exhaustion.

"… You know what, Kid?" Pause. "NO, it's not alright. It's _far_ from _fucking_ alright," Soul grumbles.

"_Huh_?" Kid murmurs with a low and confused voice before the two step in. Stein had turned on the lights once more, the two, formerly isolated desks now put back into their original place.

The professor was on his rolling chair once more with a neatly stacked, thin pile of the exam papers.

When he got back his answer sheet from Stein, there was a nasty grade stamped over it in blood-red ink. Soul maintained a calm expression the room before venting out his anger in the hallway as he clutched unto his exam. "…_ Now _why aren't I surprised?" He grumbles monotonously. The scythe could only crumble the test paper in annoyance as he aimed the scrunched up paper ball into a nearby garbage bin. _Thirty five out of one hundred. _

Kid approaches him from behind, "Hey."

Swallowing his annoyance, he asks: "So how'd _you_ do?"

"Hmph, Stein's happy. Said there was _less_ to grade in my paper," he struggles out, his pride wounded at getting a zero despite being well well-educated in such information. He also crumbles it up before throwing into the same trashcan.

"Hey, at least zero's symmetrical," Soul offers indifferently.

Kid briefly smiles dreamily, a small blush covering his pale features. "… Yeah. It is, huh?"

Feeling a little envious of the other's happiness, Soul chuckles, cruelly teasing him with a: "And here I heard from Patti and Liz that you bragged about getting perfect."

The shinigami's expression fades away at once, replaced once more with an unresponsive scowl. "_Enough_ about me; what grade did you receive?"

Soul fesses up, "… I… I got a thirty five…" In order to salvage some of his wounded pride, he brushes back his hair as he looks off apathetically.

There is a long silence.

When the shinigami finally responds, the scythe was not happy to hear it.

"… And that was when you _did _study?" The shinigami chuckled dryly.

There is another age of silence dawned over the two.

"…" Soul stares blankly before grumbling: "Oh, screw you _and_ your _asymmetrical_ hair, Kid." As he stomped away, he didn't need to turn back. He could already hear Kid screaming in agony as he pounded his fists on the floor.

* * *

Second Exam.

The scythe and the bookworm are in the former's room once more. "Soul, if you _want_… I can tutor you… Just a _bit_," Maka suggests. She was usually against the idea of lending one's knowledge to another in unfair advantage, but Soul seemed really pathetic and desperate being slumped over his desk like an alcoholic. His right hand currently held the fifth pencil, the four previous ones bent and broken out of shape beside him. "Mutilating writing utensils isn't going to cut it for you anymore, you know." She rolls her eyes as the fifth one snaps right after.

He groans out with face buried into the wooden surface; he's quick to dismiss her help. "Maka… I appreciate the idea, but I'd rather do this by myself. You can _go_…"

Maka walks to the doorway, but states one last warning beforehand. "_Always_ so quick to kick me out… You'd _better _study. If I catch you cheating –"

Soul blubbers, "_Yes_, Mom."

She huffs indignantly as she repeats once more, "_If _I catch you cheating one more time, I _swear _I won't be so _nice_."

_God, if 'nice' for Maka was a mountain gorilla, then… _He shivers at the thought.

Maka grimaces as if she'd heard his thoughts, "Have fun studying." She closes the door as he slowly removes his face from the desk.

"… It's okay… I can do this." He shines an unenthusiastic smile before diving back into his notes.

His regained confidence lasted as long as pie did in front of a fat man. It was only ten minutes since rejecting Maka's offer, and he was already knocking at her door with new questions. "Maka! I need some help," he peers down at his post-its at the side of his notes.

She clacks open the door and Soul laughs at the sight. She had on an avocado mask. "Oh, shut up, Liz gave it to me. Might as well use it…"

"Uh-huh. Pfft, looks like grass growing out from your pores…" He chuckles dryly before lightly tapping his textbook to her chest. "Help. Now."

"Geez, a thank you much?"

He groans a very unreceptive: "Thanks in advance."

She nods happily as the two make it to the table to study together. "Okay… Let's start~ You're smart, Soul, you'll do fine! _So_ what's your first question?"

* * *

"How in the world do you NOT know that? We learned these things MONTHS ago!" She grumbled as he glowered over to his criticizing roommate. She constantly jabbed at his papers in frustration.

"… What happened to 'Oh, you're _smart_, Soul, you'll do _fine_' and all that pep-talk?" He grumbled cynically as he contemplated on whether to just go to sleep.

"Well, _yeah_, but I didn't know you were _this _behind! It's your fault for sleeping and skipping so much! – And have you ever even taken any notes? I mean –"

_Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah… BLAH, BLAH._

_

* * *

_

He had gotten his second score. _Twenty seven out of one hundred? When I genuinely studied with Maka? OH, COME ON!_ He face-palmed over and over before leaning his head over at a wall in exhaustion at the feat. Kid approached him from the side. "D-damn it…"

He asks tautly with no regard for the other's feelings, "… Another fail?"

There's another pause, one that their conversations always seemed to be littered in with. "… _Yes_, don't rub it in," the scythe hisses out from under a breath. With a sigh, he pushes himself off the wall to turn on his soles and face Kid directly. _Wait a minute… He's the brilliant shinigami, a prodigy. … Someone who knows all this already; huh… _"Ur, Kid?"

Kid bobs his head in acknowledgment.

"Are you…" He awkwardly shuffles his feet as he maintains a shy schoolgirl pose with the arms burrowed into his pockets. "… _Doing_ anything later?"

He crosses his arms skeptically, "_Maybe_… Why?"

"… I… Was wondering…" _Damn it… _"If you'd want to hold some study sessions together with me anytime soon?" He offers it up casually with the extension of a friendly handshake. He maintains a taciturn face but he felt nervous doing the asking. He usually had girls come flooding to him with confession notes; _he_ was the one that was approached, not vice versa.

Kid nods after a small moment of hesitation. "_Sure_, why not?" He cocks his brow, "Maka won't help you?"

_It's not that she won't… It's that she can't… _"Naw, she and I were fail-study-buddies."

The shinigami chuckles, "… I'm guessing you two held your first lesson together yesterday?"

Soul laughs along, "Ha, you could tell by these bags and these Maka-chop bruises, eh?"

* * *

The two sit at the café and strangely enough, they weren't as uncomfortable with each other. Soul was leaning back comfortably into his seat as Kid scrutinized over the asymmetrical placement of the dessert cookies in the middle. Soul bites into one before sticking out his tongue in disgust. "These cookies taste like ass."

Kid chuckles darkly, "Like you'd know."

Soul clicks his tongue and counters. "Oh, and you wouldn't?"

The shinigami stays quiet before coughing into his wrist.

Soul snickers before slipping out their current study guide. It was three times longer than their previous two. "The guy just loves to ensure that I have no social life from studying," he adds idly as he perches his chin down on his folded arms. He yawns before Kid prods at him.

"… Hm. This doesn't seem too bad. I might be able to water some of this stuff down for you."

The weapon blinks incredulously. "Really? You're not kidding?"

"And why should I be? Want to get started on it?"

"Well, why not? Lead the way, Kid." Soul salutes him jokingly and Kid leans in, pointing out bullets in the text as they review together. Their foreheads were only a foot away from each other as they read. _Damn, I think I could count his individual bangs from here. _

"_Hey_, are you paying any attention?"

"Uh…" The scythe seemed at a loss with the dumbfound stare, the fidgeting fingers, and the small drool spot at the edge of his mouth.

The shinigami furrows his eyebrows as he leans back. He managed to growl out a harmless sounding: "We _just _started."

_Well, at least he's no Maka – _Soul feels a hard boot kick at his knee from under the table. "O-ouch!" _That's definitely blood dripping down. _It didn't matter that the blood wouldn't stain his maroon colored pants; his wardrobe was the least of his trouble now. He looks up at Kid with a WTF expression and an indignant shrug of the shoulders.

The shinigami coolly rubs his chin with the base of his thumb with no trait of anxiety. "Maybe Maka was too _soft_ on you…"

_Soft, my ASS._

Kid strikes up a proposal. "… So what I'll do is kick your knee every time you miss a detail. Whether your knee's skin wears away or not is up to you."

Soul sweats a little. _This… This is dangerous. _"Okay, _okay_, continue…" _Geez, what a hard-ass. _Soul cradles the tip of his tongue over his teeth, holding back the pain that swelled in his left knee.

The other stares vaguely before slamming down another boot over Soul's right knee, all while maintaining eye contact.

Soul automatically bites down on his tongue, muffling a high-pitched screech. "_SHIT_! What the fuck was that for?"

"It would be unfair to _only_ do the _left _knee." He makes sure to insinuate the words to get his point across, and that only pissed off the weapon even further.

"…"

Kid's habitual, sardonic smirk graces his features yet again as he looks over to the scythe with a mordant yet admiring stare.

Soul looks on just as coldly at the other, despite the small tear gathering at his left eye. _S-symmetrical son of a bitch…_

* * *

Maka and Tsubaki are walking through the streets, making their way to the café to pick up some desserts. The meister speaks up: "Tsubaki, what are you getting for Black*Star again?"

The other giggles shyly, "I'm getting him some sweet cinnamon buns for all the trouble; I didn't think he'd really help so much in cleaning up."

"Seriously, you're _amazing_. I don't know how anyone can survive being in his company for so long. Not even Soul can stand more than five hours." She huffs wearily. "That was nice and out of character of him to help though."

"I don't know, I just thought it'd be nice getting him something other than onigiri." Tsubaki has on a wistful expression as she clutches her small wallet.

Maka sighs as the two walk past the glass windows of the café and into the door. "Geez, now if only I could get Soul to study better… I guess I could get him a small slice of cake though…" She immediately walks up to the small selections of cakes in the glass casing. "Ooh, this one looks good."

The chain scythe steps behind her meekly, glancing around the crowded tables; people there mostly drank coffee, chatted, typed on the computer, or – "… Eh?" Tsubaki grabs at the meister's sleeve before tugging her behind a large potted plant in the moody lighting of the coffee/bakery shop.

"W-what?" Maka hisses as she gets a hand clasped over her mouth.

"Look." Tsubaki whispers as the two girls stand awkwardly behind a fern. The other customers glance over in mild befuddlement before cutting the girls' position in line and placing their orders.

"… Is that Soul?" Maka narrows her eye to focus in through the leaves of the plant. She lightly pulls a leaf down as she stares over to the one seated across from her weapon. "AND _KID_?" She mutters out in loud murmur. _Out of all the – WOW._

"Y-yeah. Wonder if they're on a date…"

Maka glances up at her friend and repeats the last portion of the line. "A _date_? I mean, I guess it looks a lot like one, considering the atmosphere of this place…" She glances over to Soul and Kid's left and right, spotting couples holding hands or playing footsie underneath the table. "Yeah, but Kid and Soul aren't –" She sees Kid's foot trail up toward Soul's before "playfully" kicking it. Soul jerks up before grabbing at Kid's left hand and grumbling something. Maka stares as if she's lost her appetite. "Oh brother, if this isn't a hook-up joint, I don't know _what_ is."

* * *

Meanwhile, Soul grumbles: "Damn it, Kid. I _was_ listening so stop kicking me!" He starts to vengefully wring at Kid's ringed fingers.

He scowls in disbelief as he slips his hands away. "Oh, really? Then why is that you couldn't explain the answer to this question?"

"There's a _difference_ between hearing it and understanding it, man. I just can't comprehend the _shit_ spewing out of your mouth…"

He holds in a breath as he maintains his regal composure. "Are you kidding me? This is the _fifth _time I'm explaining this…" He hisses out as he massages his brow, "Even somebody with significant learning difficulties and impaired social skills would be able to absorb at least a minor percentage of this in the time we've covered."

Soul stutters wordlessly. _You're only adding fuel to the fire. Oh geez, if he could just hear himself. _"Explain it _again_ in easier words! You're making it harder than it has to be."

Kid kicks him again without warning.

Soul's face contorts into agony as he hisses out: "YOU RASHUSH-BLSUGASHUSH-PFUDSPHANLSPWUT…"

The shinigami smirks sadistically. "Now, unto the next one…"

* * *

Maka and Tsubaki continue to stare in budding concentration. "Oh, wow, who would've thought? The two of them?"

Maka smirks, "Hm, oh, I don't know, there were _plenty _of hints before~"

* * *

Soul continues to strain over each and every agonizing detail Kid has highlighted out for him. _Even his lines are perfect…_

The waitress brings over their coffee and two sweet cream-filled buns. They're plump and glazed over with a light coating of vanilla. "Enjoy, lovelies~" She wipes her hands over her apron before retreating back to her post in the kitchen.

Kid smiles before tapping at Soul, "_Hey_, it's your order."

"Thank god. Guessing this is a small break for the personal hell you've got planned out for me?"

The shinigami could only nod in uncertainty.

Soul smiles before trailing a tongue over his chapped lips. "Man, they look good." He immediately sinks sharp teeth into it, squeezing the vanilla cream out from the opposite end. He laps it up hungrily while the shinigami oddly stares. "What?"

He grimaces, "You're eating as if you hadn't been fed for years."

Soul chuckles suavely. "Well, what's five hours for you felt like a century to me."

Kid drinks his caramel macchiato with a pinky pointed up before grumbling at the look of it when he sets it back down. _This… This cream on top… _

**(Note: A caramel macchiato usually has some form of decoration on the surface of the drink, usually in the form of a flower or an intricate pattern in the "stain" of the espresso on the steamed milk – just a tidbit to those who were wondering) **

Kid carefully drinks at the edge to ensure the keeping of such a _symmetrical _flower.

The quiet sounds of sipping from the aristocrat catches the attention of the weapon. "Huh?" Soul glances over.

Kid was currently at a boiling point as he stared down at the harmless drink homicidally, each and every one of the veins on his head pulsing. _Each – Each time I sip it, it gradually grows messed up... _He stares violently at it with a twitch before grabbing a small teaspoon and stirring it calmly. The scythe flinches as his stirs become more erratic and hurried. He slowly sips at it before setting back down strenuously. _It's – It's – _

The scythe puts up a finger, pointing toward it. Kid glances up, his attention shifting into a less brutal tone. "Erm… Hey, does that taste good?" Soul interrupts the implicitly murderous actions of the meister with a risk-free query.

"Oh." He answers honestly, "It's a bit too sweet."

"May I try?"

He puts on a thoughtful expression. "Sure." He picks the cup up to pass it gently across the table.

Soul takes the porcelain cup from the other's hand before sipping it. _Huh, it has a cute drawing of a flower on the surface. Somewhat ruined now… _He smacks his lips before setting it back down in Kid's under-plate. "Hm, it is a bit too sweet." _That was kind of like an indirect kiss, huh? _He smacks himself in the face as Kid continues to sip silently. Soul begins to drink his own cup of coffee. _Hm, mine's too bitter._

When Kid grabbed for his pastry, Soul was already done with his. The other picked the squishy bun up awkwardly with his thumb and his index, trying to attract the least of the sticky contents to his palm as possible. When he ripped into two with the other hand, a chocolate substance was seen inside. Kid stuffs one side of the bun carefully into his mouth, chewing vigorously. He gulps it down as he pinches together the vanilla coating on the base of his fingers. When he places the other piece in and chews, Soul is seen groaning.

"Ah, I wanted to try."

"Well, it's too late now," Kid grumbled. All of a sudden, Soul's hand slowly comes up from his pocket to the side of Kid's face. "_What_ – what are you doing?"

"Missed some," Soul smears off a bit of chocolate cream on the side of the shinigami's mouth, playfully tugging it off with his thumb. "I'm only returning the favor, do you remember?" He sneers before pulling out a tongue to lick up the cocoa substance with.

"…" _Ah, the incident at lunch… _Kid stays precociously still as the warmth lingers on the corner of his mouth. _I do remember._

Soul's hand retreats back to his mouth, intent on tasting it. He was pretty damn hungry, he loved chocolate, _and _he wouldn't admit the fact that he bore an ulterior motive. Much to his surprise, Kid's hand yanks the scythe's hand back toward him. "H-huh?" Soul was taken aback then, but he was completely stunned at the next action.

Kid, holding the same death glare as before, put the thumb to his lips, brushing it lightly. After chastely kissing it, he unconscientiously trailed over the digit and passed his tongue over the creamy chocolate, all while looking at Soul with the most suggestive look a man could bombard a possible lover with. His lips part before the tip of his tongue glides over one more time. The shinigami pulls back from Soul's hand ephemerally, a look of slight amusement etched on his icy features.

"H-HUH?" Soul immediately takes his hand back before wiping it on the thigh of his jeans. "Y-you –" He frantically searches the area for any traits of an audience. His paranoia is at its height when he sees two tables as well as their serving waitress staring back flabbergast.

He heard someone whisper: "What a blatant show of exhibitionism…"

Crickets chirp in the dead-silent café as all of Soul's blood flowed into his head. _W-why always me?_

The scythe's head snaps back to Kid who laughs ominously. "We agreed that we'd divide up the two cream pastries evenly, didn't we?"

_Please. Just don't talk. At all. _"…" Soul looked on baffled. _Any healthy human being would consider that the art of seduction… But this is Kid I'm talking about._

Confused at the other's shock, he continues with a scoff, "I can't betray balance now, can I?"

"…" Soul continued to look on baffled as he nipped his tongue to hold back his hastily reddening face. _Seriously, only HE could pull this off with an air of innocence... _He brushes back his bangs nervously. "Uh… Yeah."

* * *

From afar, Maka and Tsubaki equally watched with their mouths agape.

Maka broke the silence: "If they're not romantically involved, I don't know what's right in the world."

Tsubaki could only nod as she held back a blush and a snort.

* * *

Kid and Soul stack up their notes as they ready to their next location. "It's getting late. Do you want to keep studying?" They had made their way out of the café and the sun had set with the moon settling in its place. The two stare up transiently at the violet hue of the night. Stars could be seen glistening from outer space.

"Sure. It's in a week though, so I think we'll manage if we keep it laid-back," Soul answered lazily with a stretch of the neck.

Kid cocks his head, "So that's a yes?"

"Yeah, whatever," Soul dismisses this for the shinigami to choose for himself. He was currently preoccupied by Kid's recent public display of "affection." His breath could be seen in the starry, cold night.

"Then why don't we proceed to my house?"

"Cool," he shrugged.

They calmly walked side to side, Kid with his hands in his pockets and Soul with his arms on the back of his head. Maka and Tsubaki stalked them from behind with a newly bought package of steamed cinnamon buns for Black*Star.

* * *

Black*Star flipped through channels, surfing across the entire set of shows offered, until he angrily threw down the plastic remote on the sofa's cushions.

"Man, Tsubaki, I'm hungry! What's taking them so long?"

His stomach continued to growl, he immediately clutches it to block the painful vibrations out. The remote comes to a _THUMP _on the floor. He cursed his fate when the Food Network came on at the click of the thrown down remote.

"_- And that's how you finish up an appetizer, add a bit of enthusiasm and a whole lot of exotic spices - And BAH-BAM~ The scrambled turkey/pasta with the light honey-lemon coating is finished - Now on to the main course - A beautifully smoked beef steak with a melted Muenster cheese filled potato and plenty of stuffing inside. Now, let's not get Munster and Muenster mixed up... Muenster is an American cheese with a white interior and an orange rind. I prefer the European versions though; much stronger taste ~ The secret to maintaining it light yet equally delicious is -_"

"AWWWWWW~!"

* * *

The original chapter was WAYYYY too long, so I cut down a majority of it. I'll be uploading the next chapter as soon as I can, but please understand that I'm trying as hard as I can despite all the work I'm flooded with daily. I'll be able to upload Chapter Seven in three weeks or a month. Sorry ;(

Please read & review! That'll hasten this grueling process!


	7. Suspicious

Thank you for all the lovely compliments and critiques! Oh, and Soul Eater (the anime), which sadly includes Kid and Soul, don't belong to me~ Just the cute fluff ideas. … THOSE _DO_ BELONG TO ME. (Heh-heh, I actually own something – It's called imagination and _plot_, baby!)

**ZombieLiz** – This was originally supposed to be uploaded on October 18th (as a small gift for you) but well… Here's an adjective and a noun in it for you – "_Technical difficulties_"… I'd really rather not go into detail, it was kind of depressing for me… So sorry for the late update but never the less… _Happy birthday_~! X3 Oh, and I made it _super_ long~

* * *

Here's Chapter Seven – "Suspicious"

* * *

Death the Kid and Soul are making idle chatter as Maka and Tsubaki stalk on, eternally bored. "Ur… Nothing's happening, Maka…" Tsubaki murmurs. Maka is currently up ahead, using the neck of her coat as a mask and holding up sticks and branches in her hands in an oh-so clever disguise.

"All they talk about is class…" The meister grumbles. "How _dull_; but since this is _Mr. Cool/Couldn't Care Less _talking with _Symmetry Dude_, I guess it makes sense." She flexes then yawns before uttering a small "Ah!" when Death the Kid and Soul stop walking. Tsubaki stumbles back at the sudden cry.

They pause briefly as the scythe folds up his jeans, choosing to sit down upon a bench underneath a tree as support. Soul's seen grumbling over his bruised knees as Kid scoffs, his hands still stuffed into his pockets as the two bombard each other with dirty looks. Tsubaki and Maka hide themselves behind a thin pole as they continue to eavesdrop.

"You know, Kid. There's such a thing called a simple apology," the scythe grumbles as he blows into the open wound of his right knee.

"And exactly _what_ am I supposed to feel sorry for?" Kid spat out as he tapped his feet in intolerance.

Maka and Tsubaki glance at each other and nod in affirmation at the body language they portray. _It's definitely a lovers' quarrel. If only we could hear what they were saying…_

"Well, for _one_, bruising my knee… _Repeatedly _if I may so sweetly add," he mutters bitterly. "And the public outcry you caused at the café wasn't the most pleasant thing to experience either."

"What public outcry?" He repeats obtusely.

"Oh brother," Soul rolls his eyes. "You know, _sucking _on stuff isn't something that only babies do. It's not considered so _innocent _anymore." _C'mon, I can't any more blatant than this… Or I'll just sound like some mother-fucking pervert in the street._

A light bulb clicks in the shinigami's head, and with no delay, he winces in disgust at the imagery that envelops his once poised and prudish mind. "… You knew what my intentions were."

Soul pulls at Kid's sleeve to tug him a little closer, "I'll be cool about it for now, man… I just –"

Maka and Tsubaki's attention are at their peak when they see Soul holding on "endearingly" at the other's sleeve. The girls slowly begin to approach the dark alley that coincided with the store that currently faced the two boys.

Soul cuts off his previous sentence and his tight grip slacks off from the other's sleeve, settling back to his side.

The shinigami begins to iron out the crumpled sleeve as he calmly stares back at the scythe. Some of the cufflinks were unbuttoned, and he quickly goes to fixing them.

Soul drives his fingers through his hair roots and quickly changes the topic, glancing in a vague direction (toward Maka and Tsubaki). "… _Hey_, don't you feel like somebody's watching you from afar at times?" Soul yawns, making stern eye contact with the quiet shinigami. "… Listening to your every word and seeing your every action?" He vacantly asks as he continues to stretch his hands behind his head, leaning unto the prickly, aged wood.

Maka and Tsubaki hold their breath as they lean into the wall, their steps as well as their breathing rate quickened. _OH. CRAP. Is he – Is he talking about us?_

Kid went against sitting down upon the bacteria-infested bench, standing comfortably in front of him. He faces him with a thoughtful cock of the brow, "Oh? I didn't know you were the religious type."

Soul chuckles, "Naw, not _that_… Ha, never mind. Maybe I'm getting too self-conscious."

The other bobs his head down, his eyes gloomily narrowing. _What was he going to say before that? He cut himself off on purpose. _Kid dismisses his thought all too quickly, "Then… Like a lazy tailor would say… Suit yourself," he murmurs and outstretches a ringed hand.

Soul blinks twice at the phrase. "… You are such a fucking spaz," Soul chuckles lowly and teasingly. He stares at the hand quietly before taking it and pulling up to his feet. His shoes softly clack over the asphalt and Kid lightly stumbles back under the weight he supports.

The shinigami's fingers twitch lightly under the grip, and clasps over the hand reflexively. Soul lightly trails a thumb over the porcelain hand, tugging the sleeve up just by a centimeter, causing the other to stare up with a startled, yet intrigued look.

After quiet exchanges of questions in the form of looks, Kid slowly takes back his hand into his pocket and coughs into his fist.

Soul nervously places his hands into his own pockets and massages the back of his neck. _His hands were soft._ … _He must moisturize them. _An internal laugh ensues at the thought of the kid purchasing scented hand-lotions in his aristocratic attire. "Thanks… Err, uh, sorry…" His voice comes out flushed and gruff. _Ah, fail!_

"… Sorry for what?" Kid asks, his voice also a little husky. He quickly clears his throat afterward.

"… Never mind. Let's get a move on." He maintains a cool composure, and puts an arm out to his side in mock-grace as he lightly bows. "… Shall we?"

Meanwhile, Maka and Tsubaki simultaneously sigh in relief, "_Whoa_, he's sharper than I thought." She peers over the corner of the wall, seeing them walk away side by side.

The weapon outwardly giggles, "That was pretty close, I thought we were caught…"

Soul's ear catches the whispers, recognizing the voices. "Eh? Tsubaki?" He grumbles, turning behind him. Kid also stops, facing the opposite direction yet listening intently. "Hey, someone there?"

Maka's head lunges back, slamming painfully against the wall. The two girls clasp their hands over each other's mouth and begin to count until twenty.

"… Huh." Soul slowly walks in their direction. He stops at the corner, not bothering to look over. He sighs as he closes his weary eyes. "I saw your big head sticking out, Maka."

Death the Kid walks beside Soul and peers over. "Soul… _Nobody's_ there."

Soul's eyes widen as he also peers over. "What?"

There is nothing but a lonely looking garbage dumpster in the alley and a white Styrofoam box dropped in the center of the path. He approaches it and picks it up, seeing warm, plump cinnamon buns laid out nicely in two rows. _They're still hot and it's from the café… Hm… _The scythe closes the box, slips it back into the plastic bag, and hangs it at his arm. He discontentedly mutters, "… Ch.' Flat-chested speed demon."

As Soul begins to mutter sullenly at the idea of his housemate secretly stalking him and Kid, the latter merely cocks his head baffled, his eyes wrinkling and going into deep thought. He grumbles, "What in the world's a _flat-chested speed demon_?" He insinuates the words as if it were something entirely foreign to him.

Soul stifles a snort.

* * *

When Maka and Tsubaki had arrived to the latter's home, Black*Star was seen foaming at his mouth over the edge of the sofa. "Ah, Black*Star!" Tsubaki immediately ran over and caught him as he fell over. "W-what happened?"

Black*Star, with his pupils rolled back behind his head, pointed over to the TV set where Food Network still aired. Tsubaki glances over in panic before setting him back down when she sees the channel. His head plops to the floor in a none-too-gentle sounding smack.

"Agh, you dummy! You could've just turned it off instead of putting yourself through the torture!"

Maka sighs before walking over to the fridge. She clacks it open before grumbling when she sees it stuffed to the brim with ingredients. "… Tsubaki, the fridge is still full of food too."

Black*Star mutters out a weak sounding: "I was waiting for Tsubaki's _surprise_…"

The chain scythe grows flustered at his honesty, distress painted over her tranquil features. "Oh… I –" _Wait! The cinnamon buns are… _She fumbles through her pockets and inspects the floors of their flat. _I dropped them on the way here! _She groans once then twice before clapping her hands together in a determined pose, "… Black*Star, I-I'll make you onigiri _right now_!"

"Oh geez, you spoil him," Maka giggles at the weapon immediately tying on an apron. She approaches her friend from behind. "Wow. That was _real_ close, huh?"

"Yeah, I didn't think Soul would actually walk over like that…" Tsubaki nervously smiles as she begins to scoop up fistfuls of rice into her pot to rinse. Her cooker is already clacked open at her side.

Maka walks over as she folds back her sleeves and runs cold water over her palms. "I'll help, okay?"

* * *

It's as late as midnight when Soul finally makes it to his home. He seems to be limping a little, his knees giving out under him in each brutal step. He clutches on to a plastic bag, setting it down on a small counter beside the door. Maka is seen innocently reading on the couch as he comes in slipping off his shoes.

She feigns a gasp and puts on the most naïve voice possible, "Oh, hello, Soul, how have –?"

He scoffs at her, "– Don't play dumb with me. I saw your fat head sticking out from the corner."

She continues to look on flabbergasted, "I did no such thing, I was at Black*Star's the _whole _day."

"I see." He uncaps a soda, drinking it slowly with a little bit of the sugary drink spilling over to the side. "Oh yeah…" He grabs the plastic bag and places it down in front of Maka. "_These_ went a little soggy."

She peers at it curiously before popping the top of Styrofoam casing open. Sweet cinnamon buns are seen inside, wet with condensation on the inner top of the lid. "Oh, these are –!" _Tsubaki's surprise for Black*Star! She told me how she'd dropped them in that alley…_

Maka flinches, a shiver running down her spine as she's caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Soul gives a malicious and triumphant sneer. The direction of the lighting at this time of night enhances the toothy sneer. His eyes are shadowed by his bangs, his red eyes gleaming. "Yeah? They're – _What_?"

"– Some of my _favorite_ buns down at that bakery!" She fakes ignorance, "Aren't they also jointed with a café?"

Soul doesn't look convinced, noticing the obvious, abrupt cover-up. "… Didn't know they were your favorite. I'll get some for you next time."

Maka sucks in her cheeks as she nervously laughs, "Aha…" She clears her throat after the awkward chortle. "Well, should I put the kettle on? You've been burning the candle at both ends, and I'm quite sure you'd enjoy a soothing cup of brew for the end of this exhausting ditty…"

He interrupts, "… Maka, shut up. You _always _sound British when you're lying," he grumbles, sauntering over to the fridge drowsily.

She doesn't say anything, fingering the book's spine. She clears her throat, choosing to set the book down quietly, before breaking into a traditional schoolgirl giggle. "… _So_~ Soul, old chap, what were you and Kid doing playing footsie at the café?"

"… Hmph. So you were _there_," he takes another slurp from the soda can.

She goes on fearlessly, "And what was with him kissing your finger like that?" She chuckles maliciously, a twisted smile played across her usual calm and sharp features. She brings up her book once more and flips the page of her book. "… _Twirling_ his tongue over it." She twiddles her index finger in a circular motion, peering up from the page.

He immediately spits out whatever was in his mouth at the time. He begins to cough violently as he looks down to glare at the bookworm.

"… You're cleaning that up," she murmurs.

Soul keeps his composure as he wipes his mouth. _Not – cool. _"Look, that was him and his weird, isolated kid habits working their magic. I didn't tell him to treat my finger as if it were his Mom's tit…" _… Wait. Does he even HAVE a mom? _

She clicks her tongue twice, "Uh-uh, you're acting suspicious." She wags her finger to him in disbelief.

"… Ch.' Whatever. Believe what you want, but I really prefer that next time – You keep me the _hell_ out of your perverted fantasies," he slams the bedroom door behind him.

"… Uh-huh, I know who you're going to be taking to the Christmas party now!" She giggles cutely once more when Soul is heard grumbling incomprehensively inside. _It's not just a "fantasy" anymore, now is it? _She smiles to herself as she flips to the third chapter in her book, clutching the spine gently. She reads to herself the opening title at the top of the page:

_Chapter Three: The Bittersweet Revelations of the Frigid and the Callous_

She cackles at the irony, before licking her finger and turning the page.

* * *

It's the middle of class and Soul is seen bobbing his head almost rhythmically to the teacher's boring lecture. The hand that clutched his chin up was loosening under his fatigue, slipping slightly each time he decided to lean in against it. _I can't concentrate… Too sleepy._

Kid taps him on the shoulder and whispers, "Soul, will we be holding a study session today too?" Soul doesn't bother to face him, too tired to comprehend any of the noise around him. Kid, annoyed with that, whacks at Soul's back, causing him to sit up straight in surprise.

"H-huh? What?" He utters quite loudly in his daze, causing the students to stare at him in mild bewilderment. The teacher taps her foot as she waits for him to notice. He raises an open palm in apology, "… Err, uh, my bad."

Kid snickers, "You shouldn't fall asleep during class to begin with, Soul Eater."

"… Agh, whatever," Soul groaned, folding his arms behind his head as he pushed off the floor, tipping the chair comfortably back. He begins to slowly rock it back and forth.

Kid grabs him on the shoulder, forcing his chair down, "Hey, do you want me to tutor you again or not?" He looks noticeably annoyed, not exactly that eager to waste an afternoon with the slacker once more. _His learning pace is that of a diabetic turtle and he's not exactly enthusiastic about studying in the first place._

Soul clicks his tongue before staring back at Kid head on, his crimson irises meeting with golden swirls. "Yeah, yeah, Kid. I just hope this is all worth it… I _swear_; you're worse than Maka when it comes to discipline and crap."

"It wouldn't be so _horrible_ if you'd just pay attention to me in the first place."

He massages the bridge of his nose as he mutters, "I _do_ pay attention. You would just stub your damn steel toed boots at me anyway just 'cuz I didn't get it!" His volume isn't anywhere near loud, but it still manages to catch the attention of some of the more sharp-eared students around him.

Kid's eyes widen atypically as he shakes his head and puts a finger to his lips to shush the aggravated Soul.

Soul, despite lowering his volume, whispers quite loudly: "The _hell_ you shush me –"

"Ahem!" The teacher clears her throat as she raps her baton across the board, "Perhaps the newlyweds would like to make their way _outside_ of class to finish their little honeymoon dispute."

Kid cocks an eyebrow as he scrapes his chair back, "I _told _you."

Soul monotonously counters, "You _said_ nothing."

The two saunter down the steps before heading out the door to lean up against the wall.

"Wonderful, we just manage to get into trouble every single day of the week, don't we, _Kid_?" Soul noticeably puts emphasis on the word _kid_.

Kid growls lowly as he folds his arms and swings a foot over the other. "Your company feels even more _unbearable _than that of Black*Star's, _today especially_, and that's saying quite a lot." After saying so, he sighs, ashamed of his blatant show of irritation at a boy he could hardly call a friend. Dropping his hostility, he stares at Soul with a more sympathetic expression. He even brings up a reassuring hand to place over the other's shoulder. "What's with you today?"

Soul jerks under the touch, before sliding a hand over it, clasping his fingers through the spaces of the other's slim, pale ones. He garners an awkward, forced smile, trying to hide the mild flutter of his heart. "Err…" He gently pulls the hand off, receiving an impassive stare from the shinigami. "Look, I don't need pity…" He clicks his tongue, regretting the statement as soon as it slips out. "Wait. Naw, it's –" Soul rubs at the side of his arm, maintain a level head. "Sorry, man, I just wish Maka would stop with her snide remarks. S'been giving me some un-needed stress lately."

"I see." Kid stares at the wall in front of him. "Has she been teasing you about your grades or something?"

_Great, he's prying. _Soul was quite reluctant to open up to even the most basic questions. He just didn't like sharing his feelings in general, having been born an impersonal man. Hell, he barely told his own _family_ anything, his brother being one of the reasons for his departure from music. "Err… Well, not exactly grades, she's not such an ass that she'd…" He sighs. "_No_, I take that back… She's been teasing me, alright… About something pretty jackass worthy."

Kid murmurs bluntly, "That seems rather harsh; what's she teasing you about?"

"She thinks I have a thing for y–" Soul holds back a stammer. _Phew~ Almost blurted that out. _"It's nothing serious."

Kid narrows his eyes and answers lowly, "I find that unfair, you've got me interested and you're just going to dismiss the topic altogether?"

Feeling distinctly more light-hearted, Soul sneers and sticks out a tongue, "… Uh-huh." He cackles lowly after seeing Kid wrinkle his nose in distaste.

He straightens his tie, "… You know, it's considered pretty _jack-ass-worthy –_" He directly quotes Soul's crude choice of words whilst putting up quotation marks with his fingers, a trademark habit of his. "– To just leave a question up in the air like that after bringing it up _themselves_ in the _first place_…"

"Eh." The scythe pauses, peering over. "_Perhaps_… But y'know, a _cool_ guy like me shouldn't care about such things, right?"

The other clicks his tongue as he closes his eyes and leans back into the locker, "… I _dislike_ you, Soul Eater."

Soul vacantly meets the other eye to eye, "And I…" He gives an unenthusiastic half-frown, attempting to mimic the other. "… Dislike you. _Kid._" He flicks out the tip of his tongue in mild tease. When Kid doesn't respond, breathing evenly with his back supported by the wall, Soul leans closer, utilizing his forearm to keep his body balanced. Weighing his feet down and pushing slightly off the wall, Soul hovers his lips over the corner of Kid's lips, hastily withdrawing when Kid shoots open his eyes.

The other stares back at the scythe bewildered. He doesn't step away though, only staring back with an unusual look, addled with mild curiosity as well as an indescribable emotion. Kid was partly claustrophobic, not liking things to invade his space more than needed – it was mainly his OCD to blame for though as well as his previous 'isolated rich kid' status. He dismisses claustrophobia. _No… It's not that… Is it? _The shinigami asks himself this as well as reminiscing on past memories.

He rarely had people accompany him; most of his childhood was full of fond memories where an eccentric, younger Kid would reorganize furniture in rooms to be perfectly symmetrical from an aerial point of view or stack columns of perfectly proportional cubes at infancy. There was even one time where a maid caught him sawing off the leg of a table as she prepared to call him for dinner. She began to stammer in front of him as her toes pointed in and her fingers twitched at her sides.

… _It was asymmetrical_, he had replied back matter-of-factly as the woman fainted in front of him. He didn't bother to call his father, continuing to saw off the wood. However weird he may have been seen to others, Kid had a reason for doing the things he did, a sense of logical thinking and obsessive drive for the objects around him to be aesthetically pleasing.

In his thoughts, _everyone _had some form of goal, drive, some type of obsession whether it was obvious or subtle. Maka wished to create a death scythe. Liz and Patti wished to move away from their dishonorable past into praiseworthy weapons of a shinigami. Black*Star wanted to be an assassin, some form of a godly, established warrior, despite having no espionage tactics, sagacity, or any subtlety and grace to his blunt and clear-cut attacks. Tsubaki dreamed of the day where she would bring honor to the Nakatsukasa clan, the clan being hailed as a long chain of accomplished weapons – and she hoped to do this all while staying at Black*Star's side.

Like Kid thought, _everyone_ had some goal, whether malicious or good, silly or rational, unlikely or likely.

_But Soul… What does he want?_ He admitted to himself that the other was interesting in that respect, that he wasn't as readable or open as the others. But lately, Soul had just been weird, an awkward atmosphere dawning on the two most of their time together. Kid understood that the boy opposite him was clearly aloof and wounded in some way, but other than that… He didn't understand most of the things Soul had been doing. _He gets kind of up and personal… It was like that one time in the Nurse's office._

Snapping back to his current predicament, the composed shinigami uncharacteristically blubbers out, "… What was _that_?"

Soul almost swallows his tongue in aftershock. "… _Uh_… Your breath stunk," Soul murmured under his breath. He slaps himself in the face inwardly. _Yeah, like he'd fall for that…_

Kid looks mainly disturbed now. "… You approached my face just to –" He takes a somewhat dramatic pause, sounding extremely bothered in his next sentence, "_Sniff_ my breath?"

"…" _I don't know which is worse: having Kid think I have a freaky sniffing fetish or letting him realize that I was about to kiss him then and there. _He makes a retching sound at the mention of the dreaded _K-word._ He quickly reaches a conclusion, "I _so_ did," he mumbles apathetically, not caring particularly how mentally ill the answer had made him sound. _Yeah, I'm better off with the former. _

"… I… I see." Kid fixes his collar before glancing down mutely at his shoes. A very awkward moment later, the shinigami takes out his hands from his pockets. Flustered, he brings up a palm in front of his mouth and breathes loudly unto it. He sniffs once, before taking out a handkerchief and wiping his hands afterward._ I don't smell anything… But then again, one never judges oneself negatively._ "Hm… Well then… I'm sorry. Maybe it was some of the garlic pasta I ate at lunch."

_I don't understand, didn't I eat most of that garlic pasta though? Huh… Wait a minute. It worked? _Instantly getting the gist of it, Soul holds back a laugh, barely muffling it as he clasped a hand over his mouth. When Kid raises an eyebrow quizzically, Soul maintains a very _forced_ vacant look, his hands swiped behind his waist. Luckily, the shinigami doesn't notice. _HE – HE ACTUALLY FELL FOR THAT? _"By _gawd_, Kid, you're something special, alright…" He chuckles darkly at the naivety and taps him over the shoulder. "Where do you want to head to for the next study session?"

"Well… Usual place, I guess…" Kid awkwardly shifts his boots around, his fists clenched violently.

"Ur… Something up?" Soul swings his arm off immediately at the unfriendly aura emanating from the shinigami.

"… Hey, Soul…"

He strains out an easy-going look, "Uh-huh, what is it?"

Kid grumbles, sniffing his palm for the lingering scent. He peers up and growls darkly, "… Is the smell gone now?"

… _You're – you're still on that? _Soul could only bang his head repeatedly against the wall as Kid ominously stared.

He repeats, "… Is it gone now or _not_?"

* * *

Soul and Kid are spending an all-night study session at the latter's mansion, the former being in desperate need of it. The exam was tomorrow. They currently sat across from each other on an extravagant dining table fit for an entire brigade.

"What the hell do you mean you don't understand this problem?" Kid growls, his fountain ink pen suffering an agonizing squeeze between the ringed middle finger and the index. "We've gone over this for – What – About a _week _now?"

"Gah, don't remind me…" Soul groans, his head downcast as stacks of study sheets are placed out in front of him. _Ugh, I almost miss Maka's tutoring… _He's reminded of the one hour lecture she had given him prior to his second test about what an irresponsible student he was and whether he was planning to develop good work ethics soon. Soul blinks twice. _I see I've spoken too soon._

Kid is seen tampering with his ink pen as he fumbles on what to teach next. _He's not absorbing ANY of this… _"Soul… How about we make a deal?"

He seems interested enough and he leans in, "I'm all ears…" _Is he – Is he going to just tell me the answers then?_

"I'll buy you lunch, dinner, _and_ dessert for the _entire_ duration of the after school sessions with Stein – As long as you promise that you won't fall asleep on me again… _As well as drool over my nice table._"

Soul pushes his luck, "What about breakfast?" He gives him a toothy grin, making Kid twitch accordingly to the asymmetry.

"… I've been spending nearly every waking moment tutoring you. And I don't want it to be in the literal sense when I say _waking _moment." Kid seems dead serious when he says it.

The scythe stifles an irritated grunt, "Now why _wouldn't_ someone want to see _this_ all the time?" He points a finger over to his face, his comment more out of a half-assed attempt in retorting than an ego.

Kid drums his fingers impatiently over the desk. "Lunch, dinner, and dessert – Take it or leave it."

Soul snorts, "I eat your food either way…"

Kid grumbles, bitterly admitting to himself the truth of that statement.

"_Besides…_ Believe me or not, I'm actually _trying_."

Kid seems to be at disbelief. "… _Right._" He looks on hopelessly as he flails loose study papers around. _And I'm the queen of Yugoslovakia. _As Kid continued on with the lecture, Soul's eyes immediately drooped. "Stop falling asleep on me. Your knee's already a mess."

Soul sniggers sardonically with weary eyes, "At least you're barefoot now… Less impact."

"Oh yeah?" Kid stares blankly ahead, maintaining his composure as his foot brutally swipes toward Soul's knee.

The scythe impulsively catches him by the ankle, having developed a sharp reflex due to all the kicks he'd suffered recently. "Ha-ha," he taunts. "Got you in a compromising position, _Kiddo_~" He playfully tugs at the leg, causing Kid to slide down his chair abruptly.

Kid, hissing lowly, kicks forward with his other foot, only to have both his feet caught by Soul. He continues to semi-dangle, the lower half of his body being supported unto the seat by his arms. "Ugh, you _asymmetrical_ bastard…" He spits the word out as if it were the most demeaning thing he could possibly say. His grip begins to slip on the table as he struggles to pull his legs back. He violently shoves off, causing both Soul and Kid to topple back in their chairs.

"O-Ouch – That hurt like _hell_!" Soul groaned, clutching his newly bruised stomach.

Kid hisses as his back suffered whiplash. "You deserved as much. Don't ask a person for help if all you're going to do is sleep – This isn't some kind of _slumber party_, you know…"

"Why the hell would I come here expecting a slumber party, _especially _from the likes of such a killjoy?" Soul countered. _Ah wait, doesn't that imply I've been to slumber parties? _He blubbers to himself. _Ah… Not cool._

Liz stumbles out, clad in her ice cream cone themed pajama bottoms and her tank top, "Just what the hell is going on? Heard a thudding sound…" She seemed more annoyed from being awakened prematurely from her beauty sleep than worried. But, then again, she lived with Kid and Patti, who were both pure extracts of chaos.

Kid grumbles as he pats off the dust that accumulated on his neatly pressed suit. "Well, you see, Liz –" His sentence is cut off as he stares at her face in horror. "What in the _name_ of _all_ that is aesthetically _beautiful_ are you wearing over your _face_?"

Liz furrows a brow angrily. She currently sported thick, brown paste across her face, her hair forced back under her makeshift turban.

Soul mutters out knowingly, "Ah… Maka mentioned getting her face-pack from Liz. Something about moisturizing sun-damaged, dry skin?"

"Kid, geez, this is just a mud pack – closes up pores and stuff!" She groans.

Kid continues to drip blood from his mouth as he analyzes the cracks that unevenly formed across the crudely drying, disproportionately spread mud mask. _Her PJ bottoms… One side is vanilla cones and the other strawberry… Her tank top's stripes are lopsided in the folds under her breasts. The ice cream cones aren't even patterned across in correct placements… Her turban is faulty with one of the ends folded over the other, tucked in irregularly. Parts of her tips are sticking out under the loose head garment… Three strands of hair stick out from the left and seven on the right. THREE isn't symmetrical from left to right! … SEVEN isn't symmetrical in any direction whatsoever! _As his unending list went on, he spazzed out: "G-garbage – _Asymmetrical_ garbage…" His fingers twitch at his sides before he blacks out, sprawled out symmetrically like that of a corpse in a coffin.

Soul and Liz stare for two seconds before facing each other, having grown used to the frequent occurrence of Kid's panic attacks. Said shinigami gags out a small stream of blood in the shape of an elegant fountain from his mouth.

Facing Soul, she answers enthusiastically, "These things do _wonders_ for your complexion as well as fragile skin."

Soul shrugs, "So it seems." _Boy, I thought Maka's grass growing pores looked hilarious… _

"What are you doing at our house anyway? So far, you've only mooched off Kid's dinner the past few days you stayed overnight," she mumbles. She adds, "Not that Patti and I aren't mooching off Kid ourselves, of course…"

Soul blinks in minor relief. _Huh, guess Maka didn't tell Liz yet… At least the rumor won't be skyrocketing up anytime soon. I wonder if Maka knew we were holding study sessions…_

Liz smirks, continuing, "Maybe playing another round of _footsie_ under the table?"

Soul narrows his eyes. _Oh, of COURSE she told her. Well, better having Maka think I'm dating the freak than letting her know I ditched her tutoring sessions for his. _"Whatever lets you sleep at night, lady."

The girl widens her eyes quizzically (or as much as she could under the hardening mud mask), "Oh, you're no longer denying it?"

"Like I said, whatever lets you sleep at night, Liz. I mean, ignorance is _bliss_, right?" He answered sarcastically, letting her get a grip on his deliberate tone.

She huffs noisily, "Hmph." Liz changes the topic, "Don't you have an _exam_ tomorrow?"

"Ah, _right_…" Soul glances down at the knocked out shinigami. "Ugh, did he suffer _another _cardiac arrest?"

"He'd be dead by now if he did, Soul," Liz grumbles, lightly prodding at the unconscious boy. "Kid, get up, your boyfriend wants to give you a goodnight kiss before you really fall asleep."

Soul mutters under his breath, "Huh, you wish." He gently whacks at Kid's cheek, swatting at it as if it were a fly with the palm of his hand.

Liz whispers, "More like _you _wish."

* * *

Having forgotten his train of thought in the lecture when Kid finally came to, Soul had to suffer a review at the hands of a very annoyed and fatigued shinigami. They stayed up until dawn until Soul's head unexpectedly crashed down on the desk in exhaustion, Kid's head following soon after.

Patti came out of her room, wiping her eyes, giggling madly as she saw the two drool over the table and mumble vaguely in contempt. "Hue-heh-heh-heh-heh!" She impulsively snorted out her signature laugh, unable to hold it in, her annoyed elder sister throwing a pillow at the back of her head.

"Geez, your laugh could wake the dead out of their coffins!" She crankily mutters out, before taking in the sight of the scythe and the shinigami. "– O-Oh." Liz snorts herself, smiling genuinely. She pats down Patti's bed-pressed hair as the sisters giggle together. "Well, what do you know?"

Patti sniggers mischievously, "Do we wake them up?"

"Naw, let the Sleeping Beauties continue their little naptime."

* * *

Only a white wall could be seen when Soul opened his eyes, and that was when he noticed that he had fallen asleep spread across Kid's floor, staring straight at the ceiling. He rolls his head to his side and sees Kid stacking all their study notes in a neat tower. "What the _hell_? What's the time, Kid?" Soul rocks off his back and sits flat on the ground, his legs crossed out in front of him. He yawns, rubbing at his watery eyes.

Kid continues to mutter: "_Disgusting… Filthy and disorganized heaps of crap…_"

Soul grumpily kicks down the tower, leaving a very terrified Kid to tremble at the atrocity. The shinigami faces him with a spiteful glare, one that promised an early and painful death to the provoker. The scythe easily ignores it, having faced worse with Maka-chops. "Hey, seriously, what time is it?"

Kid grumbles to himself before nonchalantly facing the clock hanging on the wall. "You can't check the time yourself?"

Soul rolls his eyes before staring over. His eyesight was still blurry from waking up and he narrows them, trying to read for the directions the hands on the clock currently faced. "_Huh_. What do you know? We're late. It's about two minutes until our second class starts." Soul didn't seem too worried.

Kid also shares the same insouciance, having been late multiple times already. He blinks twice and mumbles uncaringly, "I see."

The two dully sit with their legs crossed, before sighing to get up.

As they make their way out from the gate, Soul idly stares up at the sky as Kid evens out the placement of his tie. "You don't seem too worried, Soul."

"Eh? I'm usually ditching though… And well, _you're_ just always tardy."

Kid shrugs, "I meant about the _exam_."

The other smacks his lips as he inhales in his fatigue, storing it for later. "I think you did enough worrying for the duration of my entire lifetime."

Kid blushes lightly, a barely perceivable tinge of salmon pink staining his pale skin, "I did no such thing."

Soul chuckles, catching the other's embarrassment, "And just _who_ bribed me with food?"

The shinigami widens his eyes in revelation as a cloud of confusion envelops his mind. "You're – _right_." _Why DID I care so much?_

The scythes picks at his ear as he asks, "What'd you say? I didn't quite catch that…"

_Hmph, like I'll admit it again. _"Eh. Just get an A or you'll have soiled my reputation as a shinigami," he haughtily mutters, stomping ahead.

Soul loses all trace of relaxation in his face as he flexes his arms over his head with a yawn. _The hell was that about? _Kid continues to charge ahead like a robot caught in a stampede, his arms awkwardly swaying at his sides in quickened motion. Soul clicks his tongue as he also hastens his pace, "Hey, you'll wear out your heels, princess… Wait up."

_Way to kill the happy mood…_

_

* * *

_

By the time they got there, the classes were already approaching an end, Kid having stopped numerous times to fix paintings as well as the placement of certain furniture in the academy (excluding the times they stopped in the street for Kid to repost crooked flyers). Soul, not caring about his attendance much in the first place, decided to stick with him, amusing himself with Kid's intolerance.

Maka caught up with Soul and Kid in the hall after the last bell rang. "Hey, where were you the whole day –" Her eyes widen when she sees Kid standing beside her weapon. "… Oh… I see."

Soul uneasily pulls his bangs back. "And just what – _pray tell _– do you see?"

"Hmph, I _see _that a certain _someone _decided to play hooky with another certain _someone._" She glances at Soul and Kid whilst saying so.

"Yeah, yeah… Very subtle," he mumbles. "I'll see you at home."

Maka taps him lightly on the shoulder, "Good luck on the test. I'll try and buy you some celebratory sweet buns too."

Soul shrugs, "Cool."

Kid crosses his arms as Maka goes away. "Is she _implying_ something?"

The scythe smoothly changes the course the conversation headed toward, "… Kid, why don't you meet up with Liz and Patti?" _I've had years of practice with this. _He inwardly smirks when Kid nods.

He scratches at his cheek. "Ah, I should ask them why they never bothered waking us up… Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem, I'll be seeing you later, dude." He waves at the departing shinigami, feeling a little sour. _Maybe I should just tell him… _He shakes his head.

_Nah._

_

* * *

_

Kid and Soul reunite in front of Stein's room. They look to each other and see determination. They swiftly bob their heads before making their way in. The set up of the room is the same as always, the lights dramatically (albeit unnecessarily) dimmed with Stein sitting ominously in a corner desk with his rolling chair.

The exam had already begun and Soul's memory was as sketchy as always. _Damn it… I don't think this exam will be any better… _He stretches his neck then his arms before flipping the booklet open. "… This…"

He reads the question over and answers instantaneously.

_I – I actually knew it…_

Next question, he takes a moment over it and scribbles in a phrase.

_Err… I think that's it…_

He moves on to the next one, fills it in and continues the process repeatedly, easily skipping over the ones he couldn't remember for future check-ups.

_Huh. This isn't too bad. Can't believe some things actually stuck with me after that week of torment and knee-scabbing from Kid. _

He idly twirls his pen as he fills up the last question. He glances at the clock. _Wow, and with seventeen minutes to spare. _Only forty three minutes had gone by, and he had finished all one hundred questions, a remarkable step ahead from his previous two exams. He smirks to himself at the feat. "Came a long way…" _All thanks to Kid… _He smirks. _And his stupid torture method of potentially dislocating my knee. _

After closing up his packet, he glances over to Kid, falling flat on his desk after doing so. _HE'S ONLY ON HIS NAME – AGAIN? _"Geez, Kid, get started already, you're –" Stein shushes him abruptly, leaving Soul to scowl at the bitter grade in store for his temporary mentor.

Kid seemed lost in his own world as he measured out the shapes with a ruler.

_Fifteen minutes… _Soul grumbles as he gets up from his desk to turn in his exam.

Stein mutters, "Oh? Done this early?"

"Yeah, need to go to the bathroom."

"I won't let you revise it afterward, you know…" He mutters dangerously, flipping open the packet, surprised to see correct answers written on the first page.

Soul snorts, "I wasn't _planning_ on revising it."

Flipping another page, the professor spots a mistake, a sinister smile forming across his face. He marks a big red X over it, seeing Soul flinch. Stein nods, "It's your funeral then, I'll have it graded right away."

Soul bitterly sauntered out, making it through the halls and into the bathroom. He splashes cold water at his face. _Ugh, I hate all-nighters… _However, another thought irked him – _Stupid Kid and his symmetry fetish… He's going to get another zero despite knowing all the material. _He dries his face on a paper towel, glancing up at the mirror than hung in front of him. He rubs his chin ponderingly, "Hmm…"

* * *

Stein could only wipe at his glasses with his sleeve when Soul stumbled in with a giant unhinged mirror. "… _Kids_ these days…" He doesn't seem too worried at the potential robbery, refocusing on his papers as he shuffled past through thick packets.

Soul sets it down on the ground, roughly pushing a desk beside Kid's. The shinigami stares up in befuddlement, "What is – _that_?"

"_Piss off_, I'm _helping_ your sorry ass," Soul grumbled casually. He picks up the mirror, setting it on top of the relocated desk. The mirror makes it so that Kid's paper is reflected perfectly back.

Kid's eyes widen a little in amazement. "..." _This way… This way, it – _

– _Preserves your sick obsession with left and right symmetry_. Soul finishes the statement knowingly; he smiles at his clever quick thinking. _Whatever you do will be reflected back. _"Finish your test. Stein doesn't care 'cuz it's not like you're cheating."

The shinigami looks up at Soul with curious eyes – one that seemed to fuse both gratefulness and veneration. He smiles lightly, Soul blushing as he saw the rare glimpse of happiness in Kid's lifeless, serious eyes. The shinigami finishes his test immediately.

When Soul got his test back from the psychotic mastermind of a professor, he couldn't help but feel a toothy smirk creep up his usual blank slate of a face. "Heh-heh, a seventy eight… Not the best fucking grade, but hell – I _passed_." He closes his eyes as he sneers in relief at the accomplishment.

Kid approaches him from behind, a quiet and expressionless face returned. However, his eyes remain bright like before, shining a magnificent gold. "Hmm… Very good."

Soul turns around, "Looks like your tutoring paid off, Kid."

"I'll be expecting an A from you next time."

Rolling his eyes, Soul sneers, "You bet I will."

"Say… I…" He coughs into his clenched hand. "… Didn't get to thank you for that… So, uh… Thanks."

_Sounds like that word's new on him… _Soul lowers his gaze. "Uh… _Sure_. Consider it a giant favor." He gives him a small thumbs-up sign, holding a composed expression despite feeling a little embarrassed at his own actions. "So, the brilliant Kid… What'd you get?"

Kid smiles arrogantly, "It's the _best_ possible grade." He hands him the paper.

_I thought as much – One hundred. _"I see…" Soul opens up the packet, flipping through it. The last couple pages were all covered in bright, crimson X's. "H-huh? You missed a bunch in the back…" He flips to the last page, seeing the number grade. "Eighty-eight."

"Yes," Kid confirms joyously, crossing his arms in a pompous stance.

"… Ur… Kid, sorry to kill your mood, but… It was out of one hundred, not eighty-eight."

"That's where you're _wrong_, Soul Eater," he replies coldly. He taps at the grade.

_Wait, what? _The scythe hesitantly stares up before a hamster began to spin on its wheel inside of his head. "… You… Have got to be… _Shitting_… Me…" He fumes over the paper, crumbling the edges a bit in his grip. Every single answer up until the last twelve was correct. There are even erase marks on the last twelve, hinting that he erased the correct markings soon after making them. _He marked them wrong on – fucking – purpose?_

"Eight is symmetrical up and down, left and right – the rule also applies to _two _eights standing aside each other. This is the highest form of beauty and the highest grade one could achieve in a numerical form limited to one hundred," the shinigami laughs darkly to himself as his fingers move about in his trademark pose.

Soul could only stare speechless.

Kid's tone of voice takes a very humble and anxious turn. "… _Besides_, you said it yourself…"

The scythe cocks his head to the side, "H-huh? About _what_?"

He sighs, "This grade is _perfect._"

"You missed _twelve_ – I mean, that's good – But it's _hardly_ what people would call perfect…"

Kid looked up with unmistakable fortitude. "It's the _flaws_ that make it perfection…"

Soul stares wide-eyed before authentically smiling. "… Y-Yeah…" _He… The talk in the hall that day._

After a short instance of tranquility between the two erratic boys, the shinigami wordlessly brushed back Soul's hair – fixing the other's hair having become an unusual habit for him. His fingers linger, fondling the skin as Soul narrowed his eyes under the touch. Soul slips his hand over the other as he pulled it down, however, he doesn't let go.

The two stood locked in an awkward handshake.

The scythe clears his throat and snickers, breaking the uncomfortable mood. "Now this is where I say, _I stand corrected_, right?"

Soul and Kid head toward the bakery/café for a commemorative dessert.

The warmth between their fingers continues to loiter.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the boys' bathroom…

"Hey, dude, wasn't there a _mirror_ here?" A guy idly asked at his friend whilst washing his hands. The wall of the bathroom is marked with an obvious, square stain – signaling that an object was once bolted to the space. Broken bolts and screws can be seen on the tiled floor – deep cracks, ripping of white pavement that covered the wall, peeling of paint – it all showed obvious hints of someone having wrenched the item out in a violent, rushed fury. "Whoa, _damn_, I mean… Look at this shit! Looks like some mountain bear tackled the hell out of the wall!"

The guy in the stall responds with a jaded sigh, "Hey –"

His friend goes enthusiastically, "_SHIIIIIIIITTT_ – he has got to be some kind of badass thief to get away with stealing such large –"

"_LISTEN_ TO ME –"

"Why a mirror though? – Probably thought no one would notice this gaping space, eh? Cuz' seriously, this is –"

"Hear me out, you LITTLE –"

He cuts him off once more, "Huh. I wonder if he's still carrying it around school campus – You'd expect some teacher to –"

His friend could only be heard grumbling inside the stall, his pants hanging at his ankles, "_Damn it_! Didn't I tell you not to fucking talk to me when I'm trying to take a _dump_?"

* * *

Please read & review!


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